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CLASSROOM PROBLEMS IN THE 
EDUCATION OF GIFTED CHILDREN 



BY 



THEODORE SPAFFORD HENRY 

A. B. Hedding College, 1903 
A. M. University of Illinois, 1916 



THESIS 
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the 

Degree of 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

IN EDUCATION 

IN 

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
1917 



CLASSROOM PROBLEMS IN THE 
EDUCATION OF GIFTED CHILDREN 



BY 



THEODORE SPAFFORD HENRY 

A. B. Hedding College, 1903 eJ 3 / 

A. M. University of Illinois, 1916 ""^T^/^i. 6 



THESIS 



Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the 

Degree of 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

IN EDUCATION 

IN 

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

1917 



i^inOj 



li^ 



^^ 



^^> 



!>; ©f ©. 

SEP 2a 1929 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Pages 

ntroduction 7 

Thap. 

I Flexible Promotion Schemes as Related to the 

School Progress of Gifted Children 11 

II Special Rooms for Gifted Pupils 28 

III The Experimental Room at Urbana 42 

IV Results of the Educational Tests 55 

V Results of a Practice-Test in Multiplication 76 

VI Results of the Mental Tests 89 

VII Methods of Teaching as Adapted to the Instruc- 
tion OF Gifted Children 96 

General Summary and Recommendations 112 

Blbliography 120 

126 



A 



EDITOR'S PREFACE 

If any apology is needed for bringing to the attention of members 
of the Society the work of one of my former associates, it will be 
found in the significance of the work itself. To anyone who notes 
the evolution of educational thought and practice, it must be 
evident that one of the most clearly evident tendencies of the 
present day is the ''psychologizing" of instruction — the fitting of 
educational agencies to the needs of the individual pupil. For 
several years we have recognized the needs of pupils of subnormal 
mentality. We are now perceiving more clearly the even more 
crying needs of pupils of supernormal mentality. This Yearbook 
ought to render these needs more evident and at the same time 
point out how in some measure they may be met. 

G. M. W. 



CLASSROOM PROBLEMS IN THE EDUCATION 
OF GIFTED CHILDREN* 

INTRODUCTION 

One of the most significant of modern tendencies in educational 
administration is revealed in the widespread attempts which are 
being made to adjust the subject matter and methods of the school 
to the varying needs and capabilities of the children whom it is the 
purpose of the school to serve. Instead of holding to a rigid scheme 
of gradation, adjusted to the theoretical "average child," to which 
all children must be made to conform, those who are in charge of 
public-school systems are coming to see the advisability of making 
a more flexible arrangement and a more careful adjustment to the 
varying aptitudes and capacities of the members of the school popu- 
lation. In other words, there is going on something which has been 
termed the "psychologizing" of school organization, as well as of 
school instruction. 

Naturally enough, in the movement better to adjust the school 
to the individual child, as well as to the needs of society, deficient, 
defective, and subnormal children first came in for attention. They 
appealed to our sympathy and philanthropy. They were con- 
sidered a detriment to the work of the normal pupils. It was evident 
that at best they would be more or less of a burden upon society 
after their schooldays, as well as in their childhood, and that, there- 
fore, whatever the school might do toward better fitting them to 
make their own way would be a distinct service to society, as well 

* This investigation was suggested and directed by Dr. Guy M. Whipple, at that 
time Professor of Education in the University of Illinois, now of the University of 
Michigan. Material assistance in its pursuit was received from Miss Genevieve Coy, 
at present connected with the Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, and 
Dr. H. T. Manuel, Professor of Psychology in the Gunnison, Colorado, State Normal 
School. Acknowledgements are also due the large number of public school officials 
and teachers who responded to requests for information. 



8 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

as a benevolence to the afflicted. As a result of the interest aroused 
in the education of such children, there has developed a distinctive 
pedagogy of subnormal children, which has assumed quite respecta- 
ble proportions. 

While no one could object to what has been done to make life less 
burdensome to those who have entered into it under handicaps so 
heavy, it cannot be denied that if differentiation of instruction is 
to be confined to those at the lower end of the scale of mental ability, 
such differentiation is at best one-sided. A division of classes which 
is made merely by separating from the average those who fall below 
it is a step in the right direction, but a step that needs another to 
complement it. In order to bring about a proper balance, provision 
should also be made for those more fortunate individuals, who, by 
reason of better and larger gifts, stand at the upper end of the scale. 
This one-sidedness has only lately begun to receive the attention of 
educators. Interest in special provision for children of superior 
mental powers was first exhibited by practical schoolmen. Harris in 
Saint Louis, Van Sickle in Baltimore, Kendall in Indianapolis, as 
well as others, became interested in the subject, and not only put 
into operation within their own school systems, schemes for adapting 
the school program to the peculiar and distinctive needs of the bright 
child, but did much in their publications and addresses to arouse a 
similar interest in other quarters. Petzoldt,^ in Germany, has 
carried on an active campaign for the establishment of special schools 
for gifted children, and has not been daunted by the rather fierce 
attacks of his critics; while Sickinger, at Mannheim, included in his 
well-known system provision for such pupils as were fitted to do 
extra work. 

The efforts of these practical school administrators have been 
given impetus by those psychologists who have been contributing 
to the psychology of individual differences. Stern has not only 
given us his important work on individual psychology,^ but has made 
a definite plea for special classes for such pupils as are endowed with 

1 Petzoldt, J. Sonderschulen f iir hervorragend Befahigte. Neue Jahrbucher fiir 
die Padagogik, 14: 1905, 425-456. Also Die Einwande gegen Sonderschulen. Neue 
J ahrbiicher fiir Padagogik, 28:1911, 1-24. 

* Stern, W. Die differentielle Psychologie. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

superior general intelligence.^ In America, Goddard, Terman/ and 
Whipple^ have done much to further the interest in special educational 
facilities for bright children, especially the last-named, to whom we 
owe the term "gifted" as the standard designation of children of 
supernormal ability. All these efforts have had their effect, and it 
is safe to say that at the present time there is a wide and growing 
interest in the education of the supernormal child and the best 
means by which it may be brought about. During the past ten years 
these topics have received increased attention in the meetings of the 
National Education Association, the reports of the United States 
Commissioner of Education, the bulletins of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion, and in the various school journals. Many cities and towns 
are already making special provision for gifted pupils, either by 
schemes of flexible grading, or by special rooms or classes for them, 
and others are definitely planning to make such provision as soon as 
it may be possible or feasible. 

The arguments in favor of special educational provision for 
bright children are both social and individualistic. From the former 
standpoint, society cannot afford the loss entailed upon it by the 
incomplete development of its most able and competent members. 
On the individualistic side, every child, whether subnormal, normal, 
or supernormal, has a right to that kind of education which is best 
suited to his powers and his needs. There is a moral question in- 
volved, also. It is just as important for the bright child to acquire 
correct habits of work as it is for the dull or average child to do so, 
whereas in the ordinary class the brightest children are likely to 
have from a fourth to a half of their time in which to loaf, and never 
or rarely have the opportunity of knowing what it means to work 
up to the limit of their powers. The consequent habits of indolence, 
carelessness, and inattention, which are so likely to be formed under 
such conditions, might be avoided by the provision, for such children, 
of special courses of such a nature as to fit their peculiar charac- 
teristics. 

2 Stern, W. The supernormal child. Journal of Educational Psychology, 2: 
March, AprU, 1911, 143-148, 181-190. 

^ Terman, L. M. The Intelligence of School Children. Boston, 1919. Especially 
Chs. 10 and 11. 

^ Whipple, G. M., Supernormal children, in Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education, 
Also Classes for Gifted Children, Bloomington, 111., 1918. 



10 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Although the arguments for special provision for gifted children 
are coming more and more to be recognized as valid, and notwith- 
standing the general and growing interest in the education of the 
superior child, we have in the pedagogy of very bright children a 
field as yet practically untouched. From the Report of the United 
States Commissioner of Education for 1915 I quote the following 
paragraph: 

"The public is becoming interested in the supernormal child; the 
press is eager for information regarding this type of child; and the 
school is rapidly becoming aware that it has neglected this problem. 
Rapid advancement classes are held for these children in certain 
cities, in others extra work is given them in the regular classes. But 
as yet few cities have had the courage to develop a program exactly 
fitted to their needs, nor have the psychological clinics said much 
regarding tests to discover the supernormal."^ 

It is within this neglected field of the pedagogy of gifted children 
that this study aims to make its contribution. The study is based 
upon the observation of the experimental room which is described 
at a later place in the text. This room was under the author's con- 
stant oversight, and he had the privilege of doing some teaching in it. 
Other information was obtained through the inspection of two dif- 
ferent types of special rooms for bright children, which form a part 
of the school system of Louisville, Kentucky. An investigation has 
also been made of a large number of school reports of various cities, 
and an extensive correspondence has been carried on with city super- 
intendents whose school systems include definite and special pro- 
vision for bright children, as well as with teachers in charge of special 
groups or classes of such children. Other rooms of the same grade 
in the school in which the experimental room was located afforded a 
control group for the purpose of various educational and psycho- 
logical tests which were given to both groups by a trained psycho- 
logist, and upon the results of which many of the conclusions of the 
study are based. The author found that the experience he had 
obtained in twelve years of teaching and supervision in public-school 
systems was of material assistance in his observation of the experi- 
mental room and in fact led him to generalizations that might not 
have been possible without this background of experience with 
ordinary elementary-school classes. 

^ Report of United States Commissioner of Education, 1915, Vol. I, p. 40. 



CHAPTER I 

FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES AS RELATED TO THE 
SCHOOL PROGRESS OF GIFTED CHILDREN 

Many efforts have been made in various localities toward the 
solution of the problem of making school promotion fit different 
intellectual grades — ungraded classes, more rapid promotion through 
special coaching and through systems of flexible grading, methods of 
dividing grades into groups according to intellectual ability and 
progressing at different rates, etc. The different provisions for 
flexible grading which have been, or are now, in vogue in different 
places have been so well described by others as to render unnecessary 
any lengthy or detailed discussion of them at this time.^ At the 
risk of unnecessary repetition, however, it has been thought best to 
give a brief treatment of them, both because they are related to the 
general question of the school progress of gifted children, and also 
because, historically speaking, out of these the special room or class 
for gifted pupils has evolved. 

To Dr. W. T. Harris, Superintendent of the Saint Louis schools 
from 1867 to 1880, and United States Commissioner of Education 
from 1889 to 1906, is due the credit for the first comprehensive plan 
to introduce flexibility into the classification of the graded school. 
The features and merits of his plan are discussed in his reports for 
1868-69 and 1871-72-73. He described his scheme before the 
members of the National Education Association in 1872, and in 
1874 he included in his report a still more detailed account of the 
plan.2 It is based upon a short-interval system of promotion by 
which pupils, at least in the lower grades, are promoted every five 

' Holmes, W. H., School Organization and the Individual Child. 

McDonald, R. A. F., Adjustment of School Organization to Various Population 
Groups. Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to Education, No. 75. 

Van Sickle, J. H., Witmer, L., and Ayres, L. P., Provision for Exceptional Children 
in Public Schools. United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin 1911, No. 14. 

^ In addition to the reports cited above, see also, by the same author, Class Inter- 
vals in the Graded Schools, Proc. Nat. Educ. Assoc, 1900, pp. 323-340. 

11 



12 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

weeks, with an arrangement which makes it possible for the few best 
pupils in each section or class to be united with the class or section 
next above them. This plan is of special interest to us because it is 
primarily a plan for hurrying along bright pupils for the purpose of 
keeping the upper grades from being depleted by withdrawals, and 
one of the features which Dr. Harris urged in its favor was that it 
tends to hold bright pupils up to the work of which they are capable 
and keeps them from acquiring habits of carelessness and listlessness. 

At the meeting of the National Education Association in 1898, 
considerable time was devoted to a discussion of the topics of grading 
and promotion, with reference to the needs of the individual pupil.^ 
Just at this time, there were a few schoolmen who were very enthu- 
siastic over the matter, and were doing all in their power to get others 
to share their enthusiasm. It was not until about the year 1900, 
however, that they were able to make much impression upon the 
general indifference that had prevailed. It may be said, then, 
that the year 1900 marked a very radical change in the general 
attitude toward flexibility within the school organization, so that 
one of the distinctive characteristics of the period since then has 
been an enthusiastic endeavor to provide for individual differences 
among pupils, even to the extent of organizing special classes or 
special schools for students whose interests are of different kinds and 
who are of different degrees of ability. 

This change of attitude was due largely to the activities of two 
men (besides Dr. Harris) — Superintendent Preston W. Search, of 
Pueblo, Colorado, and Superintendent W. J. Shearer, of Elizabeth, 
New Jersey. The latter, about 1886, had devised what is known 
as the "Elizabeth Plan," and in 1898 pubhshed a book devoted to 
its merits.^ This plan does not differ radically from the Saint Louis 
plan; its dominant feature consists in grouping together in separate 
rooms those pupils who are of about equal ability and attainments. 
Each of the eight grades, accordingly, is divided into three or four 
sections. Each section is allowed to do as much work as it can and 
to advance as rapidly as it is able, while as soon as a pupil shows 
that he is capable of handling the work of the next section, he is 

^ Proc. Nat. Educ. Assoc, 1898. Papers on Grading and Promotion. 
* Shearer, W. J., The Grading of Schools, 1898. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 13 

promoted without any formal examination. It will be seen at once 
that, like the Saint Louis plan, this plan is essentially a device for 
accelerating the progress of the more competent pupils. 

The plan devised by Superintendent Search is known as the 
"Pueblo Plan," and is different from the two which have just been 
mentioned, in that class instruction is done away with, and the indivi- 
dual determines his own rate of progress. In 1901 Search published 
his book: An Ideal School, in which considerable space is devoted to 
a discussion of the different degrees of ability to be found within the 
membership of an ordinary high-school class. He describes an experi- 
ment conducted with a Caesar class in the Central High School, of 
Pueblo, in which 24 pupils worked one and one-half hours a day for 
100 days under individual instruction, without any home work, and 
says that the study "shows conclusively that even in a 'well-graded 
class' there are some pupils who can do three times as much work as 
others." He also refers to a similar experiment carried on at Holy- 
oke, Massachusetts, where 24 members of a class in arithmetic were 
permitted to travel each at his own rate for a given period of time, 
and in which similar results were obtained, without any sacrifice of 
quality for the sake of quantity on the part of the more rapidly 
moving members of the class.^ While Search argues that his plan 
gives rapid workers "full, free opportunity to live up to the best that 
is within them," the chief aim in practice seems to have been to take 
care of the backward pupils, rather than of those who might be able 
to advance more rapidly than usual. 

One of the best known of the schemes for flexible grading is the 
"Double-Track Plan," or "Cambridge Plan," as developed in the 
city of that name in Massachusetts. This plan came into existence 
about 1891, and was a modification of the last six years of a nine-year 
course. Special, or "coach" teachers were employed to aid those 
pupils who seemed unable to do the work in the regular time, as 
well as to aid in the progress of those who appeared capable of doing 
the work in less than the allotted six years. On one 'track' the course 
was divided into six sections, on the other into four; each section 
covered a year's work. Those pupils who took this course in six 
years were classified in the regular grades, while those who took it 
in four years were classified in four grades — A, B, C, and D. Pupils 

6 Search, P. W. An Ideal School, pp. 28-32. 



14 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

promoted to the grammar schools began the first year's work to- 
gether, but after two or three months they were divided into two 
sections, upon the basis of their ability. The upper section, com- 
posed of the brighter pupils, completed one-fourth of the course of 
study in the year, while the other division completed only one-sixth. 
It was also possible for the pupil to change from the fast to the slow 
'track,' or vice versa, at the middle of the course, and thus to finish 
the course in five years. 

In the form in v/hich it has just been described, this plan was in 
operation in Cambridge about 17 years. During this time 10,203 
pupils graduated from the grammar schools, of whom 7 per cent com- 
pleted the course in four years, 28 per cent in five years, 50 per cent 
in six years, and 15 per cent in seven or more years. In 1910, a 
modification of this plan was introduced. The basal course of the 
new Cambridge plan is eight years in length, and each year, except 
the last, is divided into three grades. The last year comprises only 
two grades, which makes a total of twenty-three grades for the eight 
years. Each of these grades covers the work of about three months, 
except in the eighth year, where the grade is five months in length. 
Supplementary to the regular course, there is a parallel course which 
covers the same subject matter in six years. In this course there 
are 17 grades, so that the work assigned to each grade is about a 
third more than to the corresponding grade of the regular course. 
If a pupil fails to carry the work of his grade, he is asked to repeat 
only three months' work. If he is in the shorter course and fails to 
keep up, he may transfer to the regular course, with a loss of not 
more than two months' time; or if he is in the basal course and able 
to do more work than is there required of him, he may be transferred 
to the supplementary course, with not to exceed two months' repeti- 
tion of work at the transfer. So many are the opportunities for 
passing from one course to the other, that the rate of progress may 
be varied to meet any need.^ 

Before the old Cambridge plan had given way to the plan as it 
now exists, it was adopted, with some extensions, by two small 
cities of Iowa — Odebolt and Le Mars, and as thus modified it goes 
under the name of one or the other of these towns. The "Le Mars 
Plan," or "Odebolt Plan," comprises nine grades, with two courses, 

« Cambridge, Mass., School Committee: Annual Reports, 1908, 1910. 



FLEXIBL E PROMOTION SCHEMES 1 5 

one of six and the other of nine years. These courses are parallel 
and so arranged as to permit a transfer of pupils from the one to the 
other at several different points. The six-year course is divided into 
three two-year cycles, while the nine-year course is made up of three 
three-year cycles. The end of a cycle affords a point of transfer, so 
that a student may complete the course in six, seven, eight, or nine 
years, according to his ability, and the superior pupil is never required 
to 'mark time.'^ 

In 1897, Portland, Oregon, adopted a modified form of the Cam- 
bridge plan, in which the entire course of study is divided into 54 
parts, making up 18 terms of five months each. Regular promotions 
take place at the end of each term, and are by subjects, instead of by 
averages of class marks. The work of a year and a half comprises 
a cycle, and at the beginning of each such cycle those pupils who have 
come to the same point in the course of study are separated into two 
divisions, a fast division which is to advance at the rate of four parts 
of the course of study each term, and a slov/ division which covers 
only three parts in the same time. Reclassifications may take place 
at the end of any cycle. Those pupils who remain constantly in the 
first division will be able to complete the course in seven years, an 
arrangement which, again, is advantageous for the capable pupil. ^ 

About 1895, while J. H. Van Sickle was superintendent of the 
North Side Schools of Denver, Colorado, he put into operation in his 
schools a plan which was designed to provide opportunity for the 
brighter children of each class to develop their individuality by doing 
work which was more extended and more intensive than that done 
by the slower members. The special feature of this plan is the pro- 
vision of extra work for the capable children, to be done by them 
during free periods, while the other children are reciting. Home 
work is reduced to a minimum, and every encouragement is given 
to the selected pupils to depend more and more upon their own 
initiative and to push ahead as fast as they can. The plan is not, 
however, primarily a device for gaining time, as the feature of saving 
time in the course receives far less emphasis than is placed upon the 
opportunity for self-development by following out some special topic 

^ Holmes, W. H., School Organization and the Individual Child, pp. 39-43. 
8 Holmes, W. H., Op. cit., pp. 43-45. 



16 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

of personal interest, after the minimum of each study for which all 
pupils are held responsible has been mastered.^ 

The "Santa Barbara Concentric Plan," as worked out in the 
schools of Santa Barbara, California, divides each grade into A, B, 
and C sections. Each section must master the same fundamental 
principles for each of the subjects, but the A pupils do more extensive 
work than the B pupils, and the B more than the C. Trq,nsfers may 
take place from section to section within the grade at any time, and 
just as soon as the A pupils of any grade are ready for the work of 
the next grade they are promoted to the C section of that grade. In 
this plan, too, emphasis is put upon the enrichment of the course of 
study for the more capable children, rather than upon their more, 
rapid advancement in the course, although there is opportunity for 
the latter to take place.^" 

In Chicago, New York, and other cities there has been in use for 
some twenty years a plan known as the "Group System," or "Large- 
School Plan." Because of the large number of pupils in city schools, 
it is possible to have in each grade three or more classes and to 
group the pupils according to ability, with the bright students in one 
class, the slow in another, and the medium in still others. The group 
system has been worked out in two ways, which are designated as 
(1) the "Constant-Group System," and (2) the "Shifting-Group 
System." In the operation of the constant-group method, the 
membership of the class remains the same for a definite period, and 
promotions are made only at regular and stated intervals. Divisions 
must be provided in nearly all subjects of the course, and students in 
the most advanced sections may pass to a higher grade in those sub- 
jects in which they are prepared to do the advanced work, without 
having to be equally well prepared in the other subjects. In the 
shifting-group method, there may be as many groups in as many 
subjects as the teacher thinks best, and promotions may take place 
at any time. The aim in the shifting group is to encourage the bright 
pupils to do thorough and careful work while the slow pupils are 
being brought up to the grade standard. The primary aim of the 

^ Van Sickle, J. H., Witmer, L., and Ayres, L. P. Provision for Exceptional Chil- 
dren in Public Schools. U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1911, No. 14, p. 38. 

^° Burk, Caroline F., Promotion of bright and slow children. Educational Review, 
19: March, 1900, 296-302. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 17 

constant-group method, on the other hand, is to give to the bright 
pupil opportunity to advance as rapidly as possible.^^ 

During the superintendency of Dr. F. E. Spaulding at Newton, 
Massachusetts (1904-14), a plan was developed which, with some 
modifications, has become very popular. In this "Newton Plan" 
the elementary program of studies is arranged in the customary eight 
grades, and each grade offers, on the average, an amount of work 
sufficient for one year. The chief purpose of the grade hnes, how- 
ever, is to locate teachers and pupils as to the work they are doing 
at any particular time; the lines form no barrier to the advancement 
of the pupils. The distinctive feature of this scheme is the employ- 
ment of unassigned teachers, who have no regular class and whose 
work is entirely supplementary to that of the regular class teachers. 
The unassigned teacher is in charge of a special room, to which come 
individual pupils or groups of pupils for such special assistance as 
they may need. Usually the pupils who seek this help are those who 
have been retarded and are trying to get up to grade, but sometimes 
they are bright pupils who are endeavoring to gain a grade in their 
school progress. The system of gradation is so flexible that when- 
ever the work of the grade is completed in any subject by a single 
pupil, a class, or a group, the work of the next grade is taken up in 
that subject, without regard to the time of the school year.^^ 

A unique double promotion system, which has been called the 
"Double Tillage Plan" was in operation in Woburn, Massachusetts, 
from 1894 to 1903. In this plan the year's work for each grade was 
covered in the first half-year, and then gone over again in greater 
detail during the second half-year, an arrangement which made it 
possible for bright pupils to be promoted at the middle of the year, 
thereby doing two years' work in one. This plan was in operation 
during nine years, and during that time 1,252 pupils received mid- 
year promotions, of whom 938 obtained a second .promotion at the 
end of the year. In the later years of the plan, the subject matter 
of the curriculum was increased to an extent which made it very 

" Holmes, W. H., School Organization and the Individual Child, pp. 51-54. 

Van Sickle, J. H., Witmer, L., and Ayres, L. P. Provision for Exceptional Chil- 
dren in Public Schools, United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin 1911, No. 14, p. 39. 

12 Newton, Massachusetts, School Committee. Annual Report, 1913. Holmes, 
W. H., School Organization and the Individual Child, pp. 63-68. 



18 ■ NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

difficult to do a year's work in the half-year, and consequently greatly 
decreased the number of extra promotions. As a result of these 
conditions, the plan was abandoned, except in the first and second 
grades. ^^ 

Plans for flexible grading have become quite popular, and a 
great number of the cities of the country, small as well as large, 
have adopted some one of these plans or some modification of it. 
Many school systems have made combinations by picking out from 
two or three of the different schemes those features which seemed 
best suited to local needs. An example of such an adaptation to the 
requirements of a small system is found in a plan of grade promotion 
which has been worked out by Superintendent P. F. Neverman, of 
New Richmond, Wisconsin, and which is in operation at the present 
time in his schools. Superintendent Neverman bases the ''New 
Richmond Plan" upon the conviction that the ordinary child, as well 
as the child of exceptional ability, can do the work of the eight grades 
in less than the allotted time; that the association in the same classes 
of average, superior, and slow pupils is hurtful to all the pupils, no 
matter of which type, that all children should be together during the 
first grade; and that all should do all the work called for in the pro- 
gram of studies. When children enter the first grade of the New 
Richmond schools, they are treated as individuals of equal ability, 
but later in the year they are separated into A and B sections, which 
are adjusted and readjusted throughout the whole year. At the 
end of the year, a careful list is made of all the especially apt children 
who have been regular in their attendance, and who are physically 
in good condition, and they are promoted to the A class of the second 
grade, while the rest of the first-grade pupils who earn promotion go 
to the B section. The A section will do one and one-third year's 
work during the second year, while the B section is doing only the 
regular year's work, and will thus gain one-third of a year. If at 
any time a child in the B section develops to such an extent that he 
appears able to do more work than his class is doing, he may be 
transferred to the A section at once. This arrangement holds through 
the fourth grade, at the end of which time the pupils who have 

" McDonald, R. A. F. Adjustment of School Organization to Various Population 
Groups. Teachers College, Columbia University Contributions to Education, No. 75, 
p. 95. See also Woburn, Massachusetts, School Committee. Annual Reports, 1903, 1904. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 19 

remained in the A section have completed the fifth-grade work and 
are promoted to the junior high school, and the members of the B 
section take up the work of the fifth grade, in which there is only 
one section." 

Similar plans of grouping children according to their ability, 
especially in the lower grades, are found in many parts of the country. 
In Carthage, New York, for instance, all entrants who are unable to 
read, begin their school work in the first grade in much the same 
fashion. Gradually they are regrouped so as to form three divisions, 
of which the first, made up of the most capable, completes a certain 
amount of work in one year. The second group is allowed one and 
one-half years in which to do the same amount of work, and the 
third group does it in two years. Before the close of the first year, 
it may have happened that each of the three groups has been re- 
divided into higher and lower groups. ^^ Bloomington, Indiana, has 
the plan of grouping the bright children together in any grade, es- 
pecially in the primary grades, and these bright groups are per- 
mitted to advance through the regular course of study in a shorter 
time than the other grades. ^^ In Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for 
several years the upper-grade children have been congregated in one 
building and the lower-grade children in another, and the various 
sections of the same grade have been divided into fast, intermediate, 
and slow-moving groups. Each group covers the entire work for 
the year, but the bright group not only covers it more thoroughly, 
but more intensively than the other groups, and invariably gains 
time. In the school-year 1915-16 about 12 per cent of the pupils 
in the elementary schools gained from one-half to one year of school 
time; 44 per cent of those that made time in the first half-year were 
in the first three grades; and in the latter half, 80 per cent were in the 
first three grades. ^^ 

At Arlington, Massachusetts, the plan of grouping pupils accord- 
ing to their ability is extended to the high school. In the Arlington 

" Neverman, P. F. New Richmond plan of grade promotion. American School 
Board Journal, 54: January, 1917, 38. 

15 Deffenbaugh, W. S. Current Progress in Schools of Cities of 25,000 Population 
or Less, United Slates Commissioner of Education, Report, 1914, Vol. I, p. 97. 

1* Letter from Superintendent W. A. Myers. 

" Letter from Superintendent J. N. Adee. 



20 nineteenthIyearbook—part ii 

High School, pupils of about the same ability, as determined by the 
teachers' observations and the pupils' grades for the previous year, 
are grouped together at the beginning of the year. At the end of 
the first two months, any cases of obvious misplacement are dealt 
with by means of redistribution, and whatever changes in grouping 
seem necessary are made every two months thereafter throughout 
the year. In every subject in which the plan is used there are three 
classifications, rated as (1) honor, (2) medium, and (3) slow. The 
honor groups do more work in a given subject than the medium and 
slow, but the latter are expected to cover at least the minimal re- 
quirements for promotion. The work done by the medium and slow 
groups is said to be about the same as that required of a regular class, 
based on the traditional methods of selection. In order to earn 
promotion in any group a pupil must have an average better than D 
(67-69). Marks below B (80-89) are seldom found in the honor 
groups and marks above C (70-79) are seldom found in the slow 
groups.^^ 

The plan of promoting by separate subjects, rather than by the 
average mark for all subjects in the grade, sometimes works to the 
advantage of the bright pupils by making it easier for them to catch 
up with the grade above them, especially when there is added a 
provision for individual promotion. Superintendent A. N. Farmer, 
who used such a scheme in the schools of Evanston, Illinois, said of it, 
in a letter to the author: 

"The whole plan is based on the theory that children differ in 
their abilities, capacities and aptitudes. It not infrequently happens 
that a considerable part of the class is forced to sit idly by while 
the teacher is struggling to make clear a point which one or more in 
the group has failed to grasp. It is our purpose to give to every 
child an opportunity to progress as rapidly as he is able to go. The 
great majority of youngsters will keep together. Those who are 
exceptional, either because they are slow or particularly able, will be 
limited in their progress only by their own ability to go on." 

Because it so clearly indicates the object of this plan and the 
method of its operation, as well as to show how it offers inducements 

1^ Clerk, F. E. The Arlington plan of grouping pupils according to ability in 
the Arlington High School, Arlington, Massachusetts. School Review, 25: January, 
1917, 26-47. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 21 

to the bright pupil, I take the liberty of quoting a circular letter which 
Superintendent Farmer sent to the pupils in his schools at the time 
when the plan was adopted. 

"To the Boys and Girls in the Evanston Public Schools of 
District 75: 

"Have you ever felt that you could get on more rapidly in 
school if you had a chance? Have you ever felt discouraged 
when you have failed in part of your work and lost a whole 
year? If you have, you will be interested in a new plan for 
promoting pupils which has just been adopted. 

"The reason for the change is that we want to give every 
boy and girl a chance to do his school work as quickly as he is 
able to do it. It is possible that you are strong enough to do 
three years' work in two. Perhaps you are able to go on rapidly 
in some subjects, while in others you need more time. What- 
ever your abilities are, we want to help you to make the most of 
them, so that you may prepare for high school as quickly as 
possible and without loss of time. 

"Under the new plan we shall have two kinds of promotion, 
regular and special. 

"Regular promotions will come twice a year — about February 
first and again in June. You will be required to do over again 
only the subjects in which you have failed. If, for example, 
you are a fifth-grade pupil and have done satisfactory work in 
everything except geography and spelling, you will be allowed 
to do sixth-grade work in all your subjects except in geography 
and spelling. These you will do with the fifth grade and every- 
thing possible will be done to help you to 'catch up' with the 
sixth grade in these subjects also. Whether you succeed or not 
will depend on how hard you are willing and able to work. 

"Special promotion will be made at any time when a pupil 
shows he is able to do the work of a higher grade in one or more 
subjects. Suppose, for example, you are in a fourth grade and 
are strong in arithmetic. If you show that you are able to do 
much more than the class is doing in this subject, a chance will 
be given for you to work ahead and when you are ready you 
will be allowed to take arithmetic with the fifth grade. By this 
plan you may be able to work ahead and gain much time. 

"I sincerely hope that you will think over this plan, talk it 
over with your father and mother and teacher. I shall be glad 
to have you write me about any plans you want to make regard- 
ing your present or future school work. Perhaps you will want 
to earn a special promotion in some subject you do particularly 
well. If so, please remember that we shall be glad to help you in 
every way we can. It pays to look ahead and plan for the future." 



22 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

A plan practically identical with this is in use at Fond du Lac, 
Wisconsin. In the elementary schools of that city, promotion is by 
separate subjects, not by grades, and at any time when ability to 
carry the work in an advanced grade is shown. "When a pupil is 
noticeable because of excellent work in any subject and his scholar- 
ship in general warrants the effort, and his physical strength is con- 
sidered sufficient, he is given special help in that subject, sometimes 
by a parent, more often by teacher or principal, until he has bridged 
the gap between his grade and the succeeding grade, and is then 
advanced in that subject. This is not done without consultation 
with the parent and a willingness evidenced for the effort to be 
made."i9 

The traditional, and probably the most common, method of 
dealing with the supernormal child in the school has been merely to 
let him skip a grade or a class. The most extensive study of this 
procedure and its results is one, as yet unpublished, made by Mr. 
B. Q. Hoskinson, at present Superintendent of schools at Pinckney- 
ville, Illinois, while pursuing advanced work at the University of 
Illinois.^" He studied a group of 84 college students and 44 school 
children, all of whom had been permitted to skip at least a half 
year of the regular school course. Of the college students, 67 had 
skipped an entire grade. Of the whole group 81 per cent had gifted 
ancestors; 83 per cent had healthy parents; 90 per cent were healthy 
as children; 93 per cent were regular in school attendance; 93 per cent 
were undoubtedly able in school work; 88 per cent had been urged 
by school authorities to gain time in this way; only 3 per cent had 
ever repeated a grade; 87 per cent believed that the skipping had 
been advantageous to them; and in 75 per cent of the cases the grades 
skipped had been below the seventh. As a class these accelerates 
were found to be rapid readers, quick learners, earnest, industrious, 
and able to concentrate. They were given to exploration of material 
on their own account, were kept in good condition at home, and had 
a good attitude toward the school instilled into them by their parents. 
The advantages to the individual most often named were the saving 
of time, and the opportunity for keeping busy and interested. Dis- 

1^ Roberts, Superintendent J. E. A Working Scheme of Promotional Efficiency. 
2" Hoskinson, B. Q. The School Progress of Gifted Children. Unpublished master's 
essay in the library of the University of Illinois. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 23 

advantages mentioned were the disturbance of social adjustments, 
and, less often, difi&culty in keeping up with advanced work. In 
concluding his study, Hoskinson recommends that in country, village, 
and small-town schools, the best ten per cent of pupils be allowed to 
skip in grades below the seventh, if health be sound, with some pro- 
vision to bridge the gap, if only by a few hours of special assistance 
at home or at school. 

The plan of permitting the brighter pupils to skip a part of the 
course has the advantage of being easy of operation, so far as surface 
indications go, at any rate; for it does not interfere with any system 
of grading or promotion which the particular school has adopted. 
It is objectionable, however, in that it offers nothing by way of con- 
structive detail and does not partake of the nature of a positive 
program, rather having the appearance of a mere make-shift. Oppor- 
tunity to skip a grade usually comes to a child only through a sug- 
gestion by the teacher; and unless the school system has some definite 
and organized way of determining who shall be entitled to skip 
grades, and some method of searching for all pupils who have the 
ability to do so, opportunity to skip a grade is likely to be the result 
of the mere chance of obtaining the interest of a teacher who has 
initiative and energy enough to follow the matter up. In some 
school systems, however, special promotions are featured and teachers 
are made to recognize it as a part of their duties to be on the watch 
for all possible chances to bring such promotions about. Thus, in 
Salt Lake City the plan of treatment of very bright children is by 
special promotion, although in certain instances where special pro- 
motion does not seem advisable, bright children are assigned supple- 
mentary reading or extra work in the fine and applied arts.^^ Much 
the same thing is done in Kansas City, Missouri, where, in addition 
to a flexible promotion system, making special promotions easy to 
adjust, exceptionally bright children are given an opportunity to do 
broader work than is given to the average child. This is done in 
the way of additional assignments, additional work in supplementary 
reading, and other special work of a similar nature.^- In Kansas 
City, however, it was found that less than three per cent of the ele- 
mentary school enrollment received special promotions, demotions, 

** Letter from Superintendent E. A. Smith. 
^ Letter from Superintendent I. L Cammack. 



24 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 

or double promotions during one-third of the school year 1914-15, 
and that it was two and one-half times easier for a pupil to secure a 
special promotion in the same room than to a higher class in another 
room, although the 'distance' between the two classes is no greater 
in the one case than in the other.^^ Obviously, then, even when the 
special promotion plan is definitely recognized as a means of pro- 
moting the advancement of bright pupils, grade lines put a limitation 
upon the child's opportunity to gain special promotion, and it may 
very well be that lack of interest on the part of the teacher, or some 
other personal factor, is largely to blame for that limitation. 

One way in which the objectionable features of special promotion 
which involves the skipping of any part of the course may be greatly 
lessened, consists in shortening the promotion interval, so that 
the amount of subject matter to be made up is correspondingly 
lessened. On the other hand, it is clear that if that interval be made 
very short, many more special promotions are necessary in order 
to make a gain of a year or a half-year in the course, and consequently 
many more, though slighter ajdustments must be made. In the 
Saint Louis public schools, as they are now organized, each grade is 
divided into four quarters of ten weeks each, and when a class finishes 
a quarter, the members are promoted to the next quarter, even though 
they remain in the same room where they have been. In the larger 
elementary schools there are classes for each of the thirty-two quarters 
of the eight-year course. The time which each class will spend upon 
the work of a quarter depends largely upon the policy of the principal, 
who is given great liberty in this matter. Frequently a class will do 
thirty weeks' work in twenty, and sometimes one will be found able 
to do twenty weeks' work in ten. In addition to the regular class 
promotions, individual promotions may be made at any time in the 
case of pupils who are able to advance faster than the class. Such 
promotions are made after consultation between the principal and 
the teacher, and also, in case it seems advisable, conference with the 
parents. Sometimes pupils who are thus promoted recite with the 
two classes for a time, and then only with the advanced class. In 
other words, they skip a quarter. Out of 2,519 graduates of the 
elementary schools whose school records have been examined, twenty 

2' Melcher, G. Studies by the Bureau of Research and Efficiency of Kansas City, 
Missouri. The Fifteenth Yearbook of this Society, p. 131. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 25 

per cent had received double promotions, while eighteen per cent 
had failed. That is, the number of pupils who required three-fourths, 
or less, of the assigned time to do the work of the grades was slightly 
larger than the number of those who required more than the assigned 
time.2'' 

In Parkersburg, West Virginia, whenever children are found who 
are capable of doing the work of the next higher grade, they are 
allowed to go on to that grade. In this particular system, which is 
no doubt typical of a great many, promotions are semi-annual, and 
the special promotion, therefore, involves a jump covering a half- 
year's work.^^ In Muskogee, Oklahoma, bright children are enrolled 
and recite in the regular classrooms, though on recommendation of 
the teacher and principal they may be permitted to skip grades. 
There are in the schools of that city quite a number of children who 
have been thus accelerated, and they are doing very well the work 
of classes advanced for their chronological age. In order to make 
up for the deficiencies which may occur because of skipping grades, 
principals will sometimes give special instruction in their offices.^^ 
In Richmond, Indiana, in the first six grades the bright children, with 
the slow ones, are coached by the kindergarten teachers and the 
principals, and, under a flexible system of promotion, are placed at 
any time in the grade where, in the judgment of the teacher and 
principal, they can do the best work.^^ Carthage, New York, pro- 
vides a special teacher in the lower grades whose entire time is ex- 
pended in coaching backward pupils and helping the brilliant ones 
to jump to the next higher division,^^ and Coshocton, Ohio, has two 
such teachers,^^ 

At the B. F. Day School in Seattle, frequently during recent years 
as many as ten per cent of the total enrollment have advanced one 
year and a half in the course in one year's time. The school has an 
extra teacher, known as the auxiliary teacher, who devotes about a 

^ Stevens, W. F. Relation of progress of pupils to actual attendance, elemen- 
tary Schools of Saint Louis, Missouri. Educational Adminislration and Supervision, 
3: January, 1917, p. 14. 

^ Letter from Superintendent F. M. Longanecker. 

^ Letter from Superintendent E. S. Monroe. 

"^ Letter from Superintendent J. T. Giles. 

^* United States Commissioner of Education, Report, 1914, Vol. I, p. 97. 

29 Letter from Superintendent Charles E. Bryant. 



26 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

fourth of her time to assisting pupils to make special promotions, 
and the rest of her time in helping other pupils to maintain their 
present classification. Which ones deserve special promotion is 
determined by the principal as one of his special problems in super- 
vision, and in conference with the teachers interested. Many of the 
courses of study allow for a minimum in special cases — an arrange- 
ment which is often of advantage in this connection, for in some cases 
the specially promoted pupil is not held to covering all the material 
in the course. If some of the ability to do advanced work depends 
more upon the pupils' ability than upon a definite amount covered in 
the preceding grades, they may be allowed to skip part of such work 
entirely.^" 

An examination of the different plans of grading and promotion 
which we have discussed, including the various plans for special 
promotions or skipping of classes, will show that each of them makes 
some provision for capable children in at least one of the following 
three ways: (1) they do more work than ordinary pupils, but in the 
same time; or (2) they do a different kind or type of work, with no 
gain of time; or (3) they are allowed to do the same work, or work 
differing only slightly from it, but in less time. At first thought, it 
might seem as if among these different arrangements there might 
be found one that would fit ideally the needs of the gifted child, 
but, while they are better than no arrangement at all, they do not, 
in our judgment, afford the best kind of adaptation of school work 
to the child whose performance stands out as of a quality far above 
the average. The schemes for flexible grading, because of the desire 
on the part of teachers and principal to maintain something like an 
equality of numbers in the membership of the different classes or 
groups, operate in such a way as to make the selection of rapidly 
advancing pupils too broad, unless a considerable number of different 
groups is provided within each grade; while in the schemes for special 
promotion, or skipping grades, selection is too likely to rest on mere 
accident, as has already been shown. These plans are all at fault, 
too, in that they make only indirectly at best any contribution to 
that pedagogy of the supernormal, which, as Stern points out, is 

*" Letter from Principal A. S. Gist. 

See also Gist, A. S. The acceleration of pupils. School and Society, 5: January 
27, 1917, 116-118. 



FLEXIBLE PROMOTION SCHEMES 27 

needed from a sociological point of view as a counterbalance to the 
pedagogy of the subnormal. If defective children are entitled to 
special educational treatment and special study for the purpose of 
discovering what methods of instruction are best adapted to them, 
why are not children who are just as far removed from the average, 
but in the other direction, just as much entitled to special educa- 
tional opportunity and a special pedagogy? All the arguments for 
special rooms or classes for the subnormal can be made to apply 
just as effectively in defense of similar arrangements for the gifted, 
or supernormal. In truth, educators are beginning to realize the 
need of special classes or special rooms for gifted children and the}^ 
have already been established in a number of American cities. 



CHAPTER II 

SPECIAL ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 

The development of the interest among educators in special 
facilities for the instruction of gifted pupils may be clearly traced 
through successive volumes of the Proceedings of the National Educa- 
tion Association, the Bulletins of the United States Bureau of Educa- 
tion, and the Reports of the Commissioner of Education. The dis- 
cussion of the Saint Louis plan of grading by Dr. W. T. Harris before 
the National Education Association in 1872, as well as the papers 
and discussions upon the general topic of grading and promotion at 
the 1898 meeting, to which we have already referred, incidentally 
included reference to the needs of abler pupils and explanations of 
how these needs might be met by the adoption of a more flexible 
system of grading. During the meeting of the National Council 
of the National Education Association, at Los Angeles, in July, 
1907, Superintendent J. H. Van Sickle, then of Baltimore, pointed 
out the advantages obtained by making special arrangements for 
the education of pupils of more than average capability, and described 
the plans for doing this which were in use in Baltimore and in Wor- 
cester, Massachusetts.^ C. H. Kendall, then Superintendent of 
Schools at Indianapolis, at the meeting of the Department of Super- 
intendence at Washington, in February, 1908, discussed the advisa- 
bility of modifying instruction in the case of brilHant pupils, and 
described the operation of two special rooms for bright children which 
had just been established in his school system.^ The preliminary 
report of the Committee on Provision for Exceptional Children in 
the Public Schools, made to the National Council in June, 1908, 
contained a discussion of special schools for bright children and of 
the principles that should control the course of study in such schools.^ 
In an address before the Child Study Section of the National Educa- 

1 Proc. Nat. Educ. Assoc, 1907, pp. 360-361. 

2 Same, 1908, pp. 147-152. 
^ Same, pp. 350-351. 

28 



SPECIA L ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 29 

tion Association at the same meeting, Supervising Principal Charles 
A. A. J. Miller, of Baltimore, argued for a more sympathetic treat- 
ment of bright pupils and a more careful consideration of their needs.^ 
The Journal of Proceedings for 1910 contains an article by Van 
Sickle on provision for gifted children in the public schools,^ and 
Superintendent J. G. Collicott, of Indianapolis, read before the 
Department of Superintendence at Cincinnati, in February, 1915, 
a paper treating of the current methods of dealing with exceptionally 
bright children in the public schools.^ 

As to reference to gifted children in the publications of the 
Bureau of Education, Bulletin 1911, Number 14, of that bureau, 
prepared by J. H. Van Sickle, Lightner Witmer, and L. P. Ayres, and 
entitled Provision for Exceptional Children in Public Schools, contains 
a thorough-going discussion of the different methods of adapting 
the work of the school to bright children which were in use at that 
time, and in the Report of the Commissioner of Education for 
1913,^ and again in the report of the same official for 1915,^ space is 
given to a consideration of the same general topic. One very signifi- 
cant feature which may be noted in connection with these publica- 
tions is that the gifted child seems to have established his right to 
consideration along with other types of exceptional children, so that 
no discussion of the education of exceptional children is now complete 
unless some attention is given to the education of the gifted. 

The bulletin published in 1911, to which reference is made above, 
states that at that time five cities had special classes for gifted chil- 
dren. Witmer,^ in the Report of the Commissioner of Education 
for 1913, gives the names of twenty-seven cities making such provi- 
sion, in addition to the original five. Wallin, in 1914, reports 22 
cities as having classes for bright children.^*' Evidently, however, 
in both these lists there are included some cities whose provision for 

* Same, pp. 958-959. 

6 Same, 1910, pp. 321 ff. 

« Same, 1915, pp. 457-462. 

^ United Slates Commissioner of Education, Report, 1913, Vol. I, p. 445. 

8 Same, 1915, Vol. I, p. 40. 

^ Witmer, L. Progress in education of exceptional children in public schools 
during the year 1913, in Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1913, Vol. I, Chap. 
XX. 

"> WaUin, J. E. W. The Mental Health of the School Child, p. 427. 



30 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

gifted children consisted merely of plans of flexible grading, permit- 
ting the unusually able pupil to make more than normally rapid prog-, 
ress through the grades, not of special rooms for gifted children only. 
Exact figures upon the number of such rooms in existence are dif- 
ficult to obtain, for the reason that any question as to provision for 
gifted children is likely to be liberally interpreted. In a doctor's 
dissertation from Columbia University by R. A. F. McDonald, 
published in 1915, a list is given of 22 cities that reported "special 
schools or classes for exceptionally gifted pupils in their public school 
system. "^^ I have checked up this list, and find that one of these 
cities has never had any other provision for gifted children than an 
occasional special promotion, another has had a room for backward 
children, but never one for the gifted, one has a "mixed" room for 
both dull and gifted(!), and two provide auxiliary teachers who, in 
addition to coaching backward pupils, give assistance to pupils who 
are trying for special promotion. In 1917 Miss Elizabeth L. Woods 
stated that 45 cities had classes formed of gifted children only,^^ but 
I am sure that these figures were too high, if by "classes" is meant 
groups of children which are definitely formed for the purpose of 
receiving a type of instruction different from that given the rest of the 
school. The more rapidly moving groups which form a part of many 
of the schemes of flexible grading do, it is true, closely approximate 
special classes for gifted children, but they are not so definitely 
established as rightly to be considered special classes, nor is the basis 
of selection such as to entitle them to the title "gifted," except, per- 
haps, in a few instances. 

In the following discussion of special classes for very bright 
children, only those will be mentioned which are definitely known to 
have been established for the particular purpose of meeting the needs 
of children of marked ability. It is not claimed that the list given 
here is at all complete even for the spring of 1917 when it was made, 
but it is authentic, and comprehensive enough to furnish representa- 
tive illustrations of the various types of such rooms or classes as 
have existed or are in existence at the present time. 

" McDonald, R. A. F. Adjustment of School Organisation to Various Population 
Groups. Teachers College, Columbia University, Contributions to Education, No. 75. 

12 Woods, Elizabeth L. Provision for the gifted child. Educational Administra- 
tion and Supervision, 3: March, 1917, 139-149. 



SPECIA L ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 3 1 

In 1900, in one of the public schools of New York City there were 
organized ''rapid advancement classes," which concerned themselves 
exclusively with bright pupils. This arrangement still obtains; 
that is, principals of individual schools are given permission to organ- 
ize special classes for the rapid advancement of bright pupils. Many 
principals organize so-called "plus" classes for the purpose of enabling 
pupils to cover two terms in one or three terms in two. These 
classes are formed of exceptionally bright children, though occa- 
sionally 'hold-overs' from the term before are admitted. Accelerated 
classes of another type, known as "E" classes, exist, but these classes 
are formed to enable over-age pupils to gain a term or two, rather 
than to hasten the progress of bright pupils. About 1915 rapid- 
advancement classes were organized in three schools for the purpose 
of covering the seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-years' work, that is, 
the last two years of the elementary school and the first year of the 
high school, in two years. Some among these classes were formed in 
the Speyer School as an annex to Public School 43, Manhattan. 
Specially good teachers were selected, and very considerable help 
was given by the teachers from Teachers College.'^ 

The first really definite provision for the acceleration of capable 
children seems to have been made, however, at Worcester, Massa- 
chusetts, where, in September, 1901, so-called "preparatory schools" 
were opened for the purpose of helping the able child of the upper 
grades. This plan, we understand, is still in operation. Pupils 
selected from the different schools of the city are gathered at con- 
venient centers to receive instruction from teachers of more than 
ordinary ability. At first, these schools received pupils from grades 
seven, eight, and nine, but entrance from the seventh grade has 
since been discontinued. In addition to the regular work of the 
remaining grammar grades, work is given in English, French, German, 
and Latin; so that after two years of work in these preparatory 
schools, the pupils enter the high school with a full year's credit in 
EngUsh, French, German, or Latin, and without having slighted any 
of the grade subjects.^'* 

In the fall of 1902, through the efforts of Superintendent J. H. 
Van Sickle, there were established in Baltimore special classes 

" Letter from Acting Superintendent Gustave Straubenm tiller. 

" Worcester, Massachusetts, Public Schools. Annual Reports, 1902, 1904, 1912. 



32 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

known as "preparatory centers," which were quite similar to Wor- 
cester's preparatory schools. At present (1917) there are three of 
these preparatory centers in the city, all organized on the depart- 
mental plan. The first step in the selection of pupils for these centers 
is the sending of a circular from the superintendent's office to each 
elementary-school principal, asking him to have his sixth-grade 
teachers make out a card for each student in that grade, showing 
attendance, studiousness, application, ability, and likelihood of 
success in the work of the preparatory center. These cards are 
turned in at the superintendent's office where they are gone over 
and the selection made. A printed circular is then sent out to the 
parent of each child in the selected group, in order that the arrange- 
ment may be fully understood by all.^^ This circular gives such a 
complete and lucid explanation of the formation and work of the 
preparatory centers that I take the following quotation from it: 

"Those children who have made a sufficiently good record 
in the six'th grade may either continue their schooling in the 
regular seventh and eighth grades, or they may complete the 
elementary school course in the seventh- and eighth-grade pre- 
paratory classes, as their parents prefer. 

"In the preparatory classes the regular studies of the grades 
are continued, but Latin and a modern language, German or 
French, are offered as additional studies of high school grade, 
together with advanced work in English. In these three extra 
studies credits are allowed which count toward the high-school 
diploma. The experience of the past thirteen years shows that 
pupils that have been successful in preparatory-school work can 
complete the higher course in the Baltimore City College or the 
girls' high schools in three years, thus saving one year. 

"The School Board has authorized (if numbers permit) the 
arrangement of the studies in the preparatory centers so that 
boys preparing for the Polytechnic Institute may take advanced 
work in mathematics instead of Latin. In this way, although 
there may be no shortening of the time required to secure the 
Polytechnic Institute diploma, the start that the boys will 
have secured in high-school mathematics, German, and English, 
will make their work in the Institute decidedly lighter during 
the first year and increase their chances of success as Institute 
students. 

^^ Patterson, M. Rose. A Preparatory Center in Baltimore, William Rinehart 
School No. 52. Atlantic Educational Journal, 12 : January 1917, 234-238. 



SPECIA L ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 33, 

"It is essential that pupils who enter these classes shall be 
of good ability, studious in their habits, and regular in atten- 
dance. The amount of work required does not exceed that 
which such pupils, if in good health, can easily accomplish by 
systematic and daily effort. The extra studies are a help in the 
regular studies. A child who is studying Latin or German or 
French is in a very real sense studying English too; his mastery 
of English is made easier, not harder, by his study of the foreign 
language side by side with his English. In early years, also, 
one can most easily master the elements of a foreign language. 

"In preparatory classes a one-session day is held, from 
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. High-school hours are observed on account of 
the distance of the preparatory centers from many of the homes. 
Since little study time can be had in school, pupils who enter 
these classes need to devote not less than two hours each day to 
home preparation of lessons. "^^ 

Two preparatory centers similar to those in Baltimore were 
established in Indianapolis in 1908. These were also organized 
upon the departmental plan and were open to pupils ready for the 
seventh grade. Their membership was limited to twenty-five, and 
a half year of high-school work was gained. ^^ At present (1917) 
there is only one such special class in the city. This is formed from 
children selected from the 'A' classes of the seventh grade, and its 
members finish the remaining year and a half of elementary-school 
work in a year, at the same time doing enough work in Latin and 
algebra to secure half a year of high-school credit. They are con- 
sequently able to enter the high school with a saving of a year's 
time, one half of which has been gained from the grades, and the 
other half from the high school.^^ 

In Cincinnati, in September, 1910, a class for superior children 
was organized in the Eleventh District School, with the design that 
each member be permitted to pursue his own course, under proper 
guidance, without regard to the progress of his companions, and with 
the expectation that it might be possible to accomplish much more 
than an ordinary year's work. For this class, 32 pupils were selected 

18 Superintendent C. J. Koch. Preparatory Class Circular, January 14, 1916. 

" Kendall, C. N. What modifications are necessary to secure suitable recognition 
for pupils of varying ability, particulirly the ablest? Proc. Nat. Edtic. Assoc, 1908, 
pp. 147-152. 

" Letter from Supervising Principal Lizzie J. Stearns, School Thirty-two, Indian- 
apolis. 



34 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

On the basis of the judgment of the teachers with whom they had 
worked. Seventeen of them were ready for the fifth grade, nine 
for the fourth, and the remaining were unclassified. Of these 32 
pupils, 25 succeeded in doing two years' work in one, and thus gained 
a whole year.^^ Although Cincinnati provided no special classes for 
gifted children for some years after the initial experiment, it has 
lately been definitely decided to institute such classes; teachers have 
been appointed, and the director of the psychological laboratory 
has been given the work of testing the children who are recommended 
as possible members.^'' 

In the same year and month in which Cincinnati estabhshed its 
"superior" class, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, made provision for 
exceptionally gifted children by estabhshing special schools exclu- 
sively for their instruction. Two such schools were maintained 
during the year 1910-1911, and this number was increased to three 
in the fall of 1911. Each of the latter contained about 30 pupils 
selected from those who were ready to enter the eighth grade, and 
these pupils covered the work of the eighth and ninth grades in one 
year, thus saving a year's time in the elementary-school course, which 
at that time was nine years in length.^^ Harrisburg, however, has 
since changed from nine to eight elementary grades, and because of 
the congestion thereby caused, the special schools were abandoned.^^ 

The first "rapid-advancement class" in Boston was established 
January 3, 1913, at the Lewis School. Thirty of the brightest chil- 
dren of the fifth and sixth grades, 15 from each grade, were selected 
and placed under the control of one teacher, with whom they re- 
mained until they were graduated from the elementary school. The 
upper division of this class graduated in June, 1914, having com- 
pleted the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in one and a half years, 
or in half of the regular time. The lower division graduated a year 
earlier than it would have under ordinary circumstances. The 

" Unrich, Flora. A year's work in a "superior" class. Psychological Clinic, 5: 
January, 1912, 245-250. 

20 Letter from Doctor Helen T. WooUey, 1917. 

21 Harrisburg Public Schools, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Report, 1912. Also 
Downes, F. E. Seven years with unusually gifted pupils, Psychological Clinic, 6: 
March, 1912, 13-17. 

22 Letter from Superintendent F. E. Downes. 



SPECIAL ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 35 

second class of the kind was organized at the Oliver Wendell Holmes 
School, in March, 1913. It contained 30 pupils, 20 boys and 10 girls, 
selected from the ablest pupils of the seven sixth grades in the dis- 
trict.^^ In 1914, there were five of these classes.-^ In 1917 there 
were in full operation in Boston 13 rapid-advancement classes, 
formed for the express purpose of giving the bright, intelligent, 
ambitious, healthy pupils a chance to obtain three years' work in 
two. A class is formed as follows: The principal of a populous dis- 
trict canvasses with the prospective teacher of the rapid-advancement 
class, the pupils who have received promotion into the sixth grade. 
From perhaps six classes he selects 30 of the most promising children, 
pupils whose marks have been the best up through the grades, whose 
health is certified to by the school attendant physician, and who are 
recommended by their respective teachers for the rapid-advancement 
class. These pupils furnish the rapid-advancement teacher with a 
letter from their parents, signifying their permission and wish that 
the pupils should be admitted to the advanced class.^^ 

In Louisville, Kentucky, an opportunity class for accelerated 
children formed in September, 1914, made it possible for gifted 
pupils to accomplish two years' work in one."^** Louisville, in 1917, 
when visited by the writer, had two special classes for bright children, 
but they differed from one another both in organization and in pur- 
pose. One of them, located at the Sixth Street School, contained 
about 40 pupils in Grades 4 A and 4B. These children were drawn 
from several schools in the district, and remained in the class but 
half a year. The aim of this class was to gain half a year in the ele- 
mentary course, by covering the work of a whole year during the 
half year spent in this "accelerated class," as it was called. After 
having done this, the pupils were returned to their own schools and 
entered upon the next year's work. The room contained a few 
pupils who were over-age, because of entering school late, of losing 
time by sickness or moving, or similar reasons — in other words, 
pupils who, although chronologically retarded, are not to be classed 
as dull. 

2' School Document No. 10, 1913, Boston Public Schools. 

^ School Document No. 11, 1914, Boston Public Schools, 

^ Letter from Assistant Superintendent A. L. Rafter. 

^ Louisville, Kentucky, Fifth Report of the Board of Education, 1915-1916, p. 32. 



36 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 

The other class, known as the "opportunity class," was located 
at the Louisville Normal School, and contained ten boys and ten 
girls, most of whom were in the 4B grade, although there were one 
or two especially bright children from the second and third grades. 
A much more careful selection had been made for this class than for 
the other, in that all pupils who were considered as fit for enrollment 
in it were tested with the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale 
by the Director of the Psychological Laboratory, and none with an 
intelligence quotient less than 120 was accepted. The primary aim 
in this room was not to gain time, though it turned out that progress 
more rapid than normal was made, but rather to furnish an abund- 
ance of cultural material and to give the pupils a greatly enriched 
course. In addition to the regular subjects of the fourth grade 
they were given instruction in German, which was taught entirely 
by the conversational method. The classroom was very well fur- 
nished with desks of the movable chair type, large, round, low tables 
and small chairs, a piano, a Victrola, and a good assortment of pic- 
tures. The class was at the start placed in charge of the teacher of 
methods in the normal school, assisted by one of the normal-school 
cadets. It was organized about February 1st, 1917.^^ 
"""^ In September, 1914, the 55 most capable students in the seventh 
and eighth grades of the schools of Lead, South Dakota, were segre- 
gated into two special rooms as an experiment. The rate of progress 
was observed, and it was soon concluded that they could do three 
semesters of work in two semesters of time. This they all accom- 
plished, and when in September, 1915, their work was compared 
with the students who had gone at the normal rate, the rapid group 
received a higher grade than the normal group. In 1915-16, two 
' rooms were organized for the most capable students of the third 
and fourth grades, and they, too, made three semesters of work in 
one school year. The next year there were three capable groups; 
(1) a class of 15 beginners, (2) a class of 16 in Grade 2A, and (3) a 
class of 15 in Grade 4 A. Of these three groups, the first was coached 
by the principal and the latter two by the regular teachers, who also 
had student assistants. It is the policy in Lead that whenever and 

2'' Since this was written an account of the work of this class has been prepared by- 
Miss Race, who gave the Binet examinations. See Henrietta Race. A study of a class 
of children of superior intelligence, Jour. ofEduc. Psych., 9: Feb. 1918, 91-98. 



SPECIA L ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 37 

wherever such a group of capable students can be formed, they are 
segregated under the care of especially strong teachers, in order that 
they may have the opportunity of making faster progress than they 
otherwise would.^* 

In 1914, in the Franklin School, Framingham, Massachusetts, 
36 pupils, selected for their scholarship and comprising the upper 
third of the sixth-grade pupils in that school, were formed into a 
special rapid-advancement class. The same teacher stayed with 
the group for two years, and at the end of that time they had com- 
pleted the work of the sixth and seventh grades and more than two- 
thirds of the work of the eighth grade. In September, 1916, these 
pupils were promoted to the ninth grade and enrolled in the various 
rooms of that grade, where they did work of a character far above 
the average of the class. ^^ 

In the Central Intermediate School, of Jacksonville, Illinois, 
which is a departmental school given over to the seventh and eighth 
grades, each grade is sectioned according to ability, so that the upper 
section in each grade comprises a group of exceptionally strong pupils. 
No attempt is made, however, to gain time for these upper sections, 
although a different grade of work is done, so that the difference is 
one of quality rather than of quantity .^° An exactly similar arrange- 
ment obtains at Lincoln, Illinois, and in the Central School at Cham- 
paign, Illinois, although in the latter instance the school is not upon 
a departmental basis. At Lincoln, it has been definitely planned to 
select from the sixth grade a class with the intention of doing three 
years' work in two.^^ In the Thornburn Departmental School, of 
Urbana, Illinois, which includes pupils of the seventh and eighth 
grades, special classes are formed from the upper sixth of the pupils 
in each grade, and these two classes prepare to enter the high school 
in a year and a half, instead of the customary two years. Up to the 
present time, two such accelerated classes have been received into 
the high school, and their high-school work has been fully up to the 
standard in every way. 

28 Letter from Superintendent Theodore Saam. 
2^ Letter from Superintendent E. W. Fellows. 
'" Letter from Superintendent H. A. Perrin. 
^' Letter from Superintendent William Hawkes. 



38 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART U 

An interesting method of assisting the progress of bright children 
is reported from Rockford, Illinois. The Jackson School of that 
city has departmental work in the fifth to the eighth grade, inclusive. 
The staff includes a special teacher,, who is in charge of a room to 
which the very bright pupils go for recitation. At the end of March, 
1917, 47 pupils had been assigned to this teacher since the first of the 
preceding February. These pupils recited once a week in each study, 
such as language, geography, history, arithmetic, etc., but they had 
a lesson assigned daily for study in each subject. On Monday the 
teacher covered the ground of the five days' language study. On 
Tuesday the five days' work in geography is gone over, and so on. 
Besides this, the pupils did the daily work of the class above to which 
they had been promoted, thus doing a year's work in a half year.^^ 
It will be seen that, in effect, this scheme is a form of the special- 
promotion plan, modified to make definite provision for regular class 
recitations upon the work that has been skipped on account of pro- 
motion to the next class. 

A number of cities are providing ungraded or "mixed" rooms, 
in which are placed such children as are "misfits," either on account 
of inabihty to keep up with the work of their grade or of ability to do 
more work. Wausau, Wisconsin, has two such rooms, advantageous- 
ly located, each with an enrollment that, if possible, is not allowed 
to exceed 15 pupils. Three types of pupils are transferred to these 
rooms: (1) especially strong pupils who desire to make an addi- 
tional year or half year in the course, (2) pupils who have been absent 
for any cause and need to make up the work which they have missed, 
and (3) pupils who are dull or slow in any study and need help to 
make up their deficiencies in that branch and so keep up with their 
grades. The instruction in these rooms is all individual, and pupils 
stay in them only so long as is necessary to accomplish the purpose 
for which they came.^* Similar rooms are maintained in Durham, 
North Carolina.^* Concord, Massachusetts, has nine "opportunity 
classes," as they are called there, each of which is for both bright 
children and those who must go more slowly than the normal. All 
grades are more or less represented in them, according to the demands 

^2 Letter from Principal Mary C. Foote. 

^^ Letter from Superintendent S. B. Foley. 

^ Letter from Superintendent Edwin D. Pusey. 



SPECIAL ROOMS FOR GIFTED PUPILS 39 

and needs, and, since the pupils in them are usually somewhere 
between grades in their attainments, these classes might be called 
"half-sizes." It has been found in Concord that by this method 
some pupils can do two grades in one year, and many more can do 
three grades in two years. From the sixth to the seventh grades only 
a few pupils can gain more than a grade, and below the fourth few can 
gain two grades in one year. These children are so graded that the 
teacher is able to carry them along more rapidly and in the course 
of a year may have brought them to the point where through indivi- 
dual work, under the Batavia System, the teacher of the next higher 
grade may pull them up to her grade, so that in these ways they will 
have gained a grade in the course of two years. ^^ 

While we have not much information concerning special classes 
for gifted children in Europe, a few cases have been reported. In 
1899, Dr. Sickinger, superintendent of the schools of Mannheim, 
introduced a classification of the pupils of the Volksschule according 
to their abilities, and organized a system of special classes parallel 
to the regular ones. These special classes, or so-called "furthering 
classes," were designed to meet the needs of those children who, while 
not to be classed as mentally defective, were unable to do the work 
of the regular classes. Sickinger's original scheme of classification 
was a three-fold one which separated the mentally defective and the 
slow from the normal, but made no special provision for the excep- 
tionally capable.^*^ In 1909, however, the educational authorities of 
Mannheim arranged for special foreign-language classes, in which 
instruction in French should be given to pupils of the upper grades 
of the Volksschule who had demonstrated by their industry and by 
the quality of their work that they were fitted for the extra study. 
In accordance with this plan, pupils of the fourth grade that had 
received good reports throughout their course might be assigned to 
a preliminary language course at the end of the fourth year, and at 
the close of this one-year preliminary course, those that had made 
good progress in their regular work, as well as in this special language 

^ Letter from Superintendent W. A. Hall. 

'® Maennel, B. The Auxiliary Schools of Germany. Translated by F. B. Dresslar 
as United States Bureau of Education Bulletin 1907, Number 3, pp. 43-47. 

Rathmann, C. G. The Mannheim system of school organization. Educational 
Review, 53: January, 1917, 55-60. 



40 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

work, and had been honorably mentioned in the matter of attainment, 
industry, and conduct, were admitted to the regular foreign-language 
classes, from which they might be dropped at any time if their work 
failed to come up to the standard. The Mannheim system of school 
organization was also in use in Charlottenburg, where the classifica- 
tion was carried a step further than at Mannheim, so that the very 
bright were segregated, instead of being left in the same division 
with the children of normal or average ability.^^ 

In the Southall Street Elementary School, Manchester, England, 
there has been in use for some time a very effective combination of 
flexible grading and special classes for bright children, which deserves 
notice as a plan that is both practical and easy of administration, 
and might well be introduced into other schools. In this school, 
which enrolls about 800 pupils, the 30 brightest children coming up 
from the kindergarten at the beginning of each year are placed in a 
special class, known as Special II, to do Grades I and II in one year. 
The rest of the beginners are enrolled in three groups — good, medium, 
and weak, with chances for transfer upward. At the end of the year, 
the pupils in Special II are promoted to the regular third grade, where 
they have a comparatively easy time for a year. A few of them 
who are exceptionally able, however, go to Special IV, there to do 
Grades III and IV in the next year. Of the pupils who do their first 
year's work in the regular first grade, a few of the best receive pro- 
motion into Special III, where the work of Grades II and III is done 
in one year. In other words, whenever it is possible, it is arranged 
that supernormal pupils are promoted to a special class where they 
will gain a grade by doing two years' work in one. The typical group 
of accelerates begins its school progress in Grade Special II, is pro- 
moted to Grade III and then to Special V, where it does the work of 
Grades IV and V in one year. The promotion from Special V is to 
Grade VI, which is followed by Grade VII; and, as a result of this 
arrangement, the seven years' work is done in five. When there are 
not enough bright pupils to form a special class, they are allowed to 
skip a grade and go to the one beyond, receiving, if necessary, special 
help in making up any part of the course that has been missed. In 
all, four methods of promotion are used: (1) promotion at the end 

'^ Holmes, W. H. School Organization and the Individual Child, pp. 61, 135-137. 



SPECIAL ROOMS FOR GIFTED CHILDREN 41 

of the school year by the formation of a special class to work through 
two grades in one year; (2) promotion at the end of a year by skipping 
a grade; (3) promotion after the term examinations; and (4) promo- 
tion at any time. Sometimes, besides this, at the end of the half 
year, the pupils in each of the first four grades are divided into two 
sections, and the pupils in the upper section go ahead as fast as 
possible, in order to get as much of the work of the next grade done 
as they can.^^ 

38 Shaer, I. Special classes for bright children in an English elementary school. 
Journ. ofEduc. Psych., 4: April, 1913, 209-222. 



CHAPTER III 

THE EXPERIMENTAL ROOM AT URBANA 

In September, 1916, the General Education Board placed in the 
thanks of Professor Guy M. Whipple, then of the Department of 
Education of the University of Illinois, a sum of money to be ex- 
pended in the study of certain problems connected with the education 
of gifted children. A part of this fund was devoted to the subsidizing 
of a special room for bright children, which, through the courtesy of 
the Board of Education of the city of Urbana and the coop'eration of 
Superintendent A. P. Johnson, was established in the Leal School 
of that city. It was understood that the pupils of this room should 
follow the regular course of study, use the same textbooks, and be 
held to the same requirements as the other pupils in the corresponding 
grades. It was not the purpose of those having the experiment in 
charge to crowd the children in an attempt to see how much ground 
they could possibly cover, but to give them opportunity to work up 
to their natural pace, to keep them busy enough so that they might 
not form habits of lazy and careless work, and to adapt the instruc- 
tion to the distinctive capabilities and needs of the individual pupils. 

The School 

The Leal school, in which the special room was located, is the 
largest elementary school in the city of Urbana. It enrolls some 400 
pupils, in 12 rooms, limited to the first six grades. The teaching 
force consists of eleven room-teachers and a principal, whose time, 
however, is practically all spent in teaching. The district served by 
the school is a rather large one, and includes most of the University 
residence district as well as a representative portion of the residence 
district of the city itself. The building is not modern in type, and 
cannot be said to be above the average of school buildings in towns 
of this size. 

42 



EXPERIMENT A L ROOM A T URBAN A 43 

Physical Equipment of the Room 
Owing to various delays in securing the furniture for the room, 
it did not go into operation until October 2, 1916, three weeks after 
the other rooms had begun work. The physical condition of 
the room was not better than average. It was furnished with the 
ordinary non-adjustable school desks, had no more furniture or pictures 
than the other rooms in the building, and was no better equipped 
with books, maps, globes, or similar educational apparatus. Because 
of our desire to carry on the experiment under average conditions, 
things were left much as they were, with only a few exceptions. 
Since the room was inadequately lighted from the north and west, 
with the north hght at the pupils' left, the Venetian bhnds which 
were at the windows were removed completely. The walls and 
ceiHng were repainted a Hght buff to replace the dingy and too absorp- 
tive tones, and the blackboards were resurfaced to remove the gloss. 

The Teacher 
The teacher in charge of the room was chosen by the city super- 
intendent and was serving her first year in the system. Her prepara- 
tion was above that of the average grade teacher, for she was a gradu- 
ate of one of the best normal schools in the country, located in a 
western state, and also a graduate of the state university of the same 
state. Not including this year, she had had three years of experience 
in teaching in the middle and upper elementary grades, in addition 
to the practice teaching which she did in the normal school. During 
the month of November, 1916, her work was observed and her 
efficiency rated by two members of the Department of Education of 
the University of Illinois and a prominent superintendent of schools. 
In each case her teaching efficiency was rated as average, or a trifle 
above average. In scholarship, sincerity, and integrity of purpose 
she ranked high, but was lacking in resourcefulness and initiative. 
The chief hindrances to her work during the year, considered from the 
standpoint of the quahties needed in carrying on the work of such a 
room, were not matters of scholarship, but of personahty, and her 
greatest deficiency in this respect was lack of that animation, enthu- 
siasm, and initiative which would inspire children to engage their 
full powers in their work. In addition to the regular teacher, the 
special teachers of music and of drawing worked in the room at 



44 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

regular intervals, just as they did in the other rooms of the building. 
It needs to be noted quite clearly that all of the conditions of the 
experiment which have thus far been mentioned are average condi- 
tions. Supervision, course of study, physical equipment of room 
and of building, instruction — none of these could be said to be above 
average. The only really distinctive factor in our experiment, then, 
consisted in the superior intelligence of the children who made up the 
enrollment of the room. 

Selection of the Pupils 

The selection of the children was made by the principal of the 
school, in consultation with the teachers, upon the basis of the 
records made by the children in their school work, their health, indus- 
try, and application. Fifteen pupils were selected from all those of 
the school who had at the close of the last year received promotion to 
the fifth grade, and an equal number from those who were ready to 
enter the sixth grade. One or two children who were selected did 
not accept, because of fear of extra work or dislike of being separated 
from friends in other rooms, and others were chosen to fill their places. 
Of these others, one sixth-grade boy was transferred from another 
school. As organized, then, the room consisted of 30 pupils, 15 in 
the fifth grade and 15 in the sixth, representing practically the top 
fifth of the enrollment in each of these two grades in the Leal School. 
The children, upon being assembled for the first time, were simply 
told that they were to be given an opportunity to see what they could 
do, not that they were expected to cover any definite amount of 
work. 

Composition of the Control Group 

In addition to the 30 5th and 6th grade pupils in the special room, 
there were in the Leal School 57 5th grade and 62 6th grade pupils. 
These were enrolled in three different rooms, which served as control 
groups for evaluating the results of the various educational and 
psychological tests which were used to discover some of the differ- 
ences between bright and ordinary pupils. These rooms also made 
possible a check upon progress and attendance. Forty-three 6th 
grade pupils were enrolled in one room, which will be hereafter desig- 
nated as Room 6G. A 5th grade room contained 38 pupils and will 



EXPERIMENTAL ROOM AT URBAN A 



45 



be known as Room 5Y. The third room was a mixed room, contain- 
ing 19 5th-grade and an equal number of 6th grade pupils. It will 
be called Room 5-6F. 

Personal Data of the Experimental Group 
The following table displays the more important personal facts 
concerning each pupil. 

TABLE I 

Sex, Age, and Parental Occupation of Pupils of Experimental Group 









Age* in 






Grade Number 










Occupation of 
Parent 




Sex 


Years 


Months 


Days 


V. 1 


Girl 


10 


3 


12 


Editor 


2 


Girl 


10 


2 


4 


Jeweler 


3 


Girl 


10 


6 


24 


Faculty, U. of III. 


4 


Boy 


11 


2 


8 


Policeman 


5 


Girl 


10 


9 


19 


Physician 


6 


Girl 


10 


8 


9 


Barber 


7 


Girl 


10 


5 


30 


Clerk 


8 


Boy 


10 


5 


23 


Clergyman 


9 


Girl 


11 


3 


24 


Clerk 


10 


Girl 


10 





1 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


11 


Girl 


10 


5 


25 


Seamstress 


12 


Boy 


11 


3 


12 


Painter 


13 


Girl 


10 


3 


7 


Clerk 


14 


Boy 


10 


5 


27 


Banker 


15 


Boy 


11 





8 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


VI. 16 


Boy 


10 


6 


10 


Helper, Univ. Farm 


17 


Bov 


12 


4 


15 


Plasterer 


18 


Girl 


11 


10 


11 


Merchant 


19 


Girl 


11 


4 


6 


Druggist 


20 


Bov 


11 


6 


4 


Clerk 


21 


Girl 


12 


5 


11 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


22 


Bov 


11 


9 


23 


Laundress 


23 


Girl 


9 


9 


30 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


24 


Bov 


11 


9 


16 


Mechanic 


25 


Girl 


11 


7 


12 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


26 


Boy 


10 


9 


17 


Conductor 


27 


Girl 


11 


7 


19 


Faculty, U. of 111. 


28 


Girl 


11 


1 


5 


Mail carrier 


29 


Boy 


11 


3 


7 


Carpenter 


30 


Bov 


12 


4 


9 


Merchant 



* AU ages have been computed as at December 31, 1916. 

There are five boys and ten girls in the 5th, eight boys and seven 
girls in the 6th grade. The median age of the 5th grade on Decem- 
ber 31, 1916, was ten years, five months, and thirty days, or practical- 
ly ten and one-half years, as against a median age on the same date, 



46 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



for the other 57 5th grade pupils in the building, of ten years and 
eight months — a difference of two months in favor of the experimen- 
tal group. For the 6th grade, the median age is eleven years, seven 
months, and twelve days, in the experimental group, and twelve 
years for the 62 6th-grade pupils in other rooms — a difference of four 
and one-half months, or two and a half months greater than the 
difference in the 5th grade. 

In order to determine whether the experimental room contained 
more than its share of the children of faculty members enrolled in 
these grades, a rather arbitrary grouping of the different parental 
occupations and professions represented was made, and the per- 
centage figured for each group, first for the total membership of the 
5th and 6th grades, before the pupils of the experimental room were 
separated from the rest, and again for the membership of the special 
room. The conditions are shown by the following table. 

TABLE II 

Percentage by Occupations, Total and Experimental Groups 



Occupations and Professions 


Per cent for all 

5 th and 6th 

grade pupils 

combined 


Per cent for 

experimental 

group 


Skilled laborers and tradesmen 


31.91 
17.02 
11.35 

10.64 
7.80 
6.38 
4.96 

3.55 
3.55 
2.84 


26.67 


Faculty members 


23.33 


Clerks, salesmen and solicitors 


13.33 


Police, firemen, mail-carriers, motormen 
conductors 


and 


10.00 


Farmers and dairymen 


0.00 


Bankers and merchants 


10.00 


Unskilled laborers 


0.00 


Laundresses, seamstresses and domestics 


6.67 


Editors, clergymen, lawyers and physicians .... 
Contractors 


10.00 
0.00 







It is here shown that the children from faculty homes furnished 
somewhat more than their share of the experimental group, since 17 
per cent of the total membership of the two grades has suppHed 
233^ per cent of the enrollment of the special room. Again, if to 
these there are added those children who come from homes represent- 
ing the other professions, we find that a few more than one-fifth of 
the total group furnish exactly one-third of the selected upper group. 



EXPERIMENT A L ROOM A T URBA NA 47 

While this is not sufficient ground for generalization, it is true that 
under the conditions of this experiment, children from homes repre- 
senting the so-called learned professions stand a better chance of 
high rank in school success, as measured by the ordinary methods. 

School History 

The school progress of most of these children, prior to their 
enrollment in the experimental room, had been entirely normal; 
most of them began school at six years of age, or thereabouts, and, 
with a few exceptions, made a school grade each 3^ear after. Only 
one case of repeating a grade was reported, namely, Number 4, who 
spent two years in the first grade. Numbers 16 and 26 skipped the 
third grade, and Numbers 8 and 23 entered the public schools in the 
third grade, for the former did the work of the first two years at 
home, and the latter had attended a private school. Number 5 did 
the work of the first two grades in one year, Number 10 spent- only 
one half-year in the first grade. Number 6 lost half of the second 
year's work, because of illness, and for that reason has been in school 
one-half year longer than the normal number of years for reaching 
the fifth grade; Number 7 missed about half the first year, for the 
same reason, but did not spend any time in making it up, and hence 
was not delayed in her progress. Attention should be called to the 
fact that, measured in terms of time spent in school, but few of these 
children have derived any advantage from the excellent character of 
their work, for in only four or five cases has the school made any 
provision whereby progress more rapid than that of the average child 
might be made possible for them. 

Mental Age 

In order to determine the degree of intelligence possessed by each 
of the members of the experimental group, early in the year they 
were tested by Miss Coy by the Stanford Revision of the Binet- 
Simon scale for the Measurement of Intelligence.^ The results are 
exhibited in Table III. 

' Terman, L. M. The Measuremenl of Intelligence. 



48 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART U 

TABLE III 

Mental Age, Advancement, and Intelligence Quotient 







Date of 


Chrono- 


Mental Age 


Advance- 


Intelli- 


Grade 


No. Sex 


Examina- 


logical Age* 






ment 


gence 






tion 


Yrs. Mos. 


Yrs. 


Mos. 


Yrs. 


Mos. 


Quotient 


V. 


1. Girl 


Oct. 16 


10 1 


13 


11 


3 


10 


138.0 




2. Girl 


Oct. 12 


10 


14 


8 


4 


8 


146.6 




3. Girl 


Sept. 29 


10 3 


11 


3 


1 





110.0 




4. Boy 


Oct. 18 


11 


11 


2 




2 


101.5 




5. Girl 


Oct. 16 


10 7 


11 


3 




8 


107.0 




6. Girl 


Oct. 2 


10 5 


13 


2 


2 


9 


126.4 




7. Girl 


Oct. 13 


10 3 


11 


10 


1 


7 


115.4 




8. Boy 


Oct. 17 


10 3 


12 


7 


2 


4 


122.7 




9. Girl 


Oct. 23 


11 1 


12 







11 


108.2 




10. Girl 


Oct. 20 


9 10 


11 


7 


1 


9 


117.9 




11. Girl 


Oct. 13 


10 3 


14 


6 


4 


3 


141.4 




12. Boy 


Oct. 17 


11 1 


13 


5 


2 


4 


121.0 




13. Girl 


Oct. 11 


10 1 


10 


3 




2 


101.6 




14. Boy 


Oct. 24 


10 3 


13 


5 


3 


2 


130.9 




15. Boy 


Oct. 5 


10 10 


11 


11 


1 


1 


110.0 


VI. 


16. Boy 


Oct. 4 


10 4 


13 


9 


3 


5 


133.0 




17. Boy 


Sept. 28 


12 1 


14 


9 


2 


8 


122.0 




18. Girl 


Oct. 6 


11 7 


12 


5 




10 


107.0 




19. Girl 


Oct. 3 


11 2 


13 


11 


2 


9 


124.6 




20. Boy 


Oct. 6 


11 4 


11 


9 




5 


103.6 




21. Girl 


Sept. 29 


12 3 


13 


1 




10 


107.0 




22. Boy 


Oct. 4 


11 7 


12 


6 




11 


108.0 




23. Girl 


Oct. 2 


9 7 


12 


9 


3 


2 


133.0 




24. Boy 


Oct. 9 


11 7 


11 


6 




1 


99.3 




25. Girl 


Sept. 28 


11 4 


12 


5 


1 


1 


110.0 




26. Boy 


Oct. 9 


10 7 


12 


7 


2 





118.8 




27. Girl 


Sept. 28 


11 4 


12 


10 


1 


6 


113.0 




28. Girl 


Oct. 10 


10 10 


12 


6 


1 


8 


115.3 




29. Boy 


Oct. 3 


11 


12 


2 


1 


2 


110.6 




30. Boy 


Oct. 10 


12 1 


16 


1 


4 





134.4 



The chronological age has in each case been calculated to the nearest full month. 



By the intelligence quotient (I.Q) is meant the ratio between 
the mental age of the child, as determined by the Binet scale, and the 
chronological age. It is found by dividing the mental age by the 
chronological age. Terman classifies intelligence quotients above 
140 as representing ''near" genius or genius; those from 120 to 140 as 
degrees of very superior intelligence; from 110 to 120 as superior 
intelligence; and from 90 to 110 as normal, or average intelligence. 
It must be remembered, however, that on account of the impossibility 



EXPERIMENTAL ROOM AT URBAN A 



49 



of drawing sharp border-lines these classifications are only approxi- 
mate. ^ The following table distributes the intelligence quotients 
shown in the table above into these groups. 

TABLE IV 

Distribution by Intelligence Groups 

Fifth Grade 

Normal, or average intelligence 6 

Superior intelligence 2 

Very superior intelligence 5 

Near genius or genius 2 

To put the matter in another way, an I. Q. of 110 is equaled or 
excelled by 20 children out of 100; an I. Q. of 115 by ten out of 100, 
an I. Q. of 125 by one out of 100, while only about one child in 250 
or 300 tests as high as 140.^ The number of children in the experi- 
mental room who reached each of these points is shown in Table V. 



Sixth Grade 


Total 


6 


12 


4 


6 


5 


10 





2 



TABLE V 

Number of Pupils Reaching Higher Intelligence Quotients 



I. Q. Reached or 
Exceeded 



Fifth 


Sixth 


Total 


Grade 


Grade 




10 


10 


20 


8 


7 


15 


7 


5 


12 


5 


3 


8 


4 


3 


7 


2 





2 



Part of Total School Population 
Normally Represented 



110 
115 
120 
125 
130 
140 



Upper 20% 
Upper 10% 
Upper 5% 
Upper 3% 
Upper 1% 
Upper 0.3% 



It has been suggested that the intelligence standard for admission 
to a special class for gifted children be set at a mental advancement 
of two whole years,^ which, at the age of most of the children in this 
class, would result in an intelligence quotient of about 120, which 
Terman makes the dividing line between "superior" and "very super- 
ior" intelligence. There are 13 children in the class who show a 



« Terman, L. M. Op. ciL, p. 79. 

3 Terman, L. M. Op. ciL, pp. 78, 96. 

* Hoke, K. J. The Public Schools and the Abnormal Child. Psychological Clinic, 
9: January, 1916, 238-245. 

Goddard, H. H. Two thousand normal children measured by the Binet measuring 
scale of intelligence. Pedagogical Seminary 18: June, 1911, 232-259. 



so • NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

mental advancement of two years or more, and 12 who have an intelli- 
gence quotient of 120 or better (Table V). Of these 12, it is interest- 
ing to note that four come from the homes of skilled laborers and 
tradesmen, four are children of bankers or merchants, one comes 
from the home of a faculty member, two from homes representing 
other professions, and one from the home of a seamstress. Seven 
children of faculty members, in the whole group, contribute only 
one intelligence quotient above 120, although only two of them fall 
below 110. 

Criticism op the Method or Selection 

The basis of selection of the pupils of the experimental room and 
the manner in which that selection was made have been described 
in an earlier portion of the present chapter. It will be remembered 
that the room, as actually constituted, received the upper 20 per 
cent each of the fifth and sixth grades of the Leal School, and that 
the selection was made entirely upon the opinions of the principal 
and the teachers, whose judgment, naturally enough, was based 
largely upon the school records of the individual pupils. It will be 
seen, however, that in our experimental class we have a very liberal 
selection, with a consequently wide range of intelligence quotients. 
Only 12 of the 30 children reach or exceed an I. Q. which entitles 
them to be classed as possessing "very superior" intelligence, and 
ten of them are of no better than average, though many of these 
latter are near the upper limit of that classification. Had the pupils 
for this room been chosen by means of the results of the mental tests, 
therefore, there would have been a much better selection, and even 
more could have been accomplished than actually was. 

The tables in the following chapters, which exhibit the results 
of the various educational and psychological tests that were used, 
show a comparatively wide range of ability in each test, even in the 
selected group. This is owing chiefly to the fact that one or two 
individuals, whose intelligence quotients are the lowest in the room, 
are also consistently low in the tests. A better method of selection 
would have eliminated these pupils and thus made possible more 
uniform results. Our experience throughout the year indicated very 
strongly that the selection of pupils for a special room for gifted 
children should be made by means of psychological tests, rather than 



EXPERIMENTAL ROOM A T URBAN A 51 

being allowed to depend upon the opinions of teachers and principals, 
or even upon the record of the teachers' marks secured by the child 
in the various school subjects.^ 

Amount of Work Accomplished 

An important part of the experiment consisted in keeping a close 
comparison of the progress of the special room with that of the other 
rooms of the same grade. It will be remembered that the special 
room was not established until October 2nd, or three weeks after 
the work of the school year had begun. During those three weeks 
the pupils who had been selected, carried on their work in the regular 
rooms with the rest of the class, and in that way, from the point of 
view of the experimental work, some time was lost. At the end of 
November, that is to say, in eight weeks, a careful account was taken of 
the work which had been done in the different rooms, and it was found 
that the special 5th grade group had accomplished approximately 
50 per cent more work than the regular 5lh grades had done in arith- 
metic, 100 per cent more in language, and 50 per cent more in geog- 
raphy. The 6th grade, in amount of work done, had made a gain 
of approximately 75 per cent in arithmetic and 66 per cent in lan- 
guage. Besides this, both grades in the room had finished the half- 
year's work in physiology prescribed by the course of study, and 
had begun upon the work in history which regularly follows the 
completion of the work in physiology, as the course is arranged. 
Final examinations in arithmetic, set by the city superintendent and 
covering the work of a whole school year for each grade, i.e., those 
regularly given in June, were given to both grades on February 9, 
1917, and the corresponding examinations in language were given 
one week later. The 5th grade took the final examination in geog- 
raphy on February 19. All these examinations were under the 
supervision of the superintendent, and the papers, after having 
been graded by the teacher, were sent to his office for inspection and 
approval. In each case the results were satisfactory, and the classes 
were allowed to go on at once with the work of the next year in the 
respective branches. The Urbana course of study provides for 
only two months' work in geography for the 6th grade, beginning 

^ For an extended discussion of this matter, see G. M. Whipple, Classes for Gifted 
Children, Bloomington, 111., 1919. 



52 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 

April first. With this 6th grade, however, the work was begun after 
the Christmas vacation and was completed by the end of February, 
at which time the 7th grade work in the same subject was undertaken. 
At the end of the school year both grades had completed another 
year of work, with the exception of the work in history, in which, for 
various reasons, mainly because of difficulty in articulating the work 
of the Special Room with the course of study used in the Urbana 
school system, as required by the superintendent, and therefore 
beyond our control, they still lacked a few weeks' work. During 
the first week in June, 1917, the children of the Special Group were 
given the regular final examinations in the subjects of the 6th and 
7th grades as outlined for the other rooms, with the understanding 
that if these examinations were passed, and the deficiencies in history 
made up during the summer months, or in the following year, they 
would be permitted to enter the grade ahead at the beginning of the 
next school year, in this way making a gain of one year. Nine pupils 
of the Special Fifth, and eight of the Special Sixth passed the exami- ' 
nations and received certificates of promotion. A number of the 
children failed in the examination in arithmetic, the papers from 
which were scored by the superintendent himself, and that in a very 
rigorous way. Almost all the members of this latter group did 
review work in arithmetic during the summer and passed a special 
examination set for them in September, thus gaining promotion. 
It should be noted, in this connection, that the matter of the pro- 
motion of the pupils of the Special Group rested entirely with the 
decision of the superintendent.^ In addition, it ma3/ be said that 
practically all of those who failed to receive promotion either in June 
or in September would never had been admitted to the Special 
Group if the selection had been made by the use of our psychological 
tests, rather than upon the single basis of teachers' judgments. 

Health 

The extra amount of work which the pupils carried resulted in 
no case in any impairment of health. Careful watch was kept for 
any symptoms of nerve strain, or any other indications of weakness, 
but nothing of the sort was detected. Two children put on eye- 

* For a detailed account of this phase of the investigation, see Whipple, op. cit., 
pp. 83-93 



EXPERIMENTAL ROOM AT URBAN A 



53 



glasses early in the year, and in consequence of advice given them 
as the result of tests of vision, rather than because of any extra strain. 
Careful inspection was made of the children's teeth by a competent 
dentist, and a copy of his report transmitted to the parents. 

Attendance 

In regularity of attendance, the experimental room surpassed 
the other rooms of the same grade which were in the building. Table 
VI shows the per cent of attendance for all rooms in the Leal School 
enrolling 5th and 6th grade pupils, by months from October, 1916, to 
March, 1917, inclusive. September, 1916, is omitted for the reason 
that the special room was not in existence during that month. 





TABLE VI 

Per Cent of A ttcndance by Months 








Oct. 


Nov. 


Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Average 


Room 5 Y 


97.5 
98.3 
98.9 
99.1 


95.5 
96.7 
97.5 
98.7 


96.8 
96.2 
96.3 
99.7 


93.8 
96.5 
96.3 
98.8 


93.1 
94.1 
96.7 
99.0 


95.3 
94.6 
97.6 
99.1 


95.83 


Room 5-6F 

Room 6G 


96.07 
97.19 


Experimental Room 


99.07 



Atmosphere 

The 'atmosphere' of the room throughout the whole year was 
entirely normal. Although it is sometimes urged as an argument 
against the establishment of special rooms for gifted children that 
there is danger of the development of egotism, clannishness, or similar 
undesirable characteristics on the part of children placed in such 
rooms, the pupils under observation did not exhibit any inordinate 
amount of any such traits. They enjoy the opportunity of using 
their powers, and such was their industry and their interest in their 
work that discipline was reduced to a minimum, and the teacher 
left free to spend all her energies in the work of instruction. 

Summary 
In summary of this chapter it may be said that, in so far as the 
conditions of the experiment may be considered as typical, children 
from the top fifth of the 5th and 6th grades of the elementary 
school, selected, in general, on the basis of the ordinary tests of school 
work, are in median age from two to six months younger than the 



54 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

children composing the remaining four-fifths. They are somewhat 
more likely to come from the homes of professional fathers than from 
the homes of skilled or unskilled laborers. But few of them derive 
any advantage, in terms of school progress, from the excellence of 
their work, although from one-third to one-half of them are advanced 
in mental age two years beyond their chronological age, and possess a 
degree of intelligence enabling them to be classed intellectually as 
"very superior." Children falling within this latter group, which 
includes practically the top ten per cent, are able to do approximately 
two years of the work outlined in the ordinary course of study for the 
middle- and lower-grammar grades in one year, with a degree of 
excellence fully up to the standard, and without any undue strain 
or impairment of health. They excel ordinary children in regularity 
of attendance, are not abnormally clannish or selfish, are industrious 
and cause practically no trouble in discipline. 



CHAPTER IV 

RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 

In order to determine the efficiency in the fundamental branches 
of the special room as a whole, as well as to ascertain the points of 
strength or weakness in each pupil individually, throughout the 
year use was made of the various educational scales and tests for 
ability in handwriting, spelling, arithmetic, and composition; while 
other tests, not quite so closely connected with some particular 
branch, were used to test different types of language ability. It was 
possible, by comparing the results of these tests with the norms 
established for them, to determine what degree of efficiency the room 
had attained. In some instances these tests were given to the other 
rooms in the building which were cited in the previous chapter as 
"control groups,"^ and this made possible a direct comparison of the 
efficiency of the special room with that of the rest of the school. 
We shall proceed at once to set forth the results of these tests for the 
various studies. 

Handwriting 

To determine the quality of handwriting, samples were secured 
in the experimental room on October third, the second day the room 
was in session. These samples were scored on both the Ayres^ and 
the Thorndike scales^ for the measurement of ability in handwriting, 
by sixteen graduate students in education. Table VII shows the 
median and the average amalgamated score on each scale for each 
grade. It also shows the range of the median score for each grade 
among the sixteen persons who did the scoring. The samples were 
scored for quality only; no account was taken of speed. 

1 See Chapter III. 

2 Ayres, L. P. A Scale for Measuring the Quality of Handwriting of School Children. 
' Thorndike, E. L. A Scale for Handwriting of Children in Grades 5 to 8. 
Thorndike, E. L. The measurement of the quality of handwriting. Teachers 

College Record, 11: March, 1910, 83-175. 

55 



56 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 



TABLE VII 

Quality of Handwriting Produced by Pupils of Special Room, October 3, 1916. Ayres 
and Tkorndike Scales, 16 Judges 





FIFTH 


GRADE 


SIXTH 


GRADE 




Thorndike 


Ayres 


Thorndike 


Ayres 


Median 


9.8 
10.0 


48.6 
48.6 


10.4 
10.5 


49.5 


Average 


50.8 






Median Range 


8.5-11.5 


36.8-61.8 


7.6-12.9 


29.7-71.5 







Starch's standard scores (Table VIII), are based on over 6,000 
pupils in 28 schools, and apply to the ends of the respective years.^ 

TABLE VIII 

Quality of Handwriting. Standard Scores for End of Each Grade, Ayres and Thorndike 

Scales {Starch) 



Quality (Thorndike) , 
Quality (Ayres) .... 



4 


5 


6 


7 


8.7 


9.3 


9.8 


10.4 


37 


43 


53 


57 



10.9 



A comparison of Tables VII and VIII shows that, taking the 
median scores on the Thorndike scale, the fifth grade has attained a 
quality equal to the standard score at the end of the sixth grade, 
while the sixth grade has reached the ability to be expected at the end 
of the seventh grade. Since the samples were taken at the beginning 
of the year, or only three weeks after the beginning, to be exact, the 
scores must be considered as representing the ability possessed by 
these pupils at the end of the fourth and fifth grades. In other 
words, they must be compared not with the fifth-grade and sixth- 
grade scores, but with those of a year earlier. Consequently, accept- 
ing Starch's scores as the true norms, and considering the judging as 
efficient, on the basis of the Thorndike scale the median score of 
each grade is two years ahead of what it might be expected to be. 
The same statement is true when we use the average instead of the 
median, for in both grades the average is slightly the higher of the 
two measures. 



* Starch, D. Educational Measurements, pp. 82-83. 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 



57 



With the Ayres scale, the results are slightly different. The 
average score for the fifth grade stands just a trifle above the mid- 
point between the standard scores at the ends of the fifth and sixth 
grades. If we could assume that the difference between the standard 
scores for these grades represented ten equal steps on the scale, then 
our fifth-grade group would fall at a point representing about the 
middle of the sixth grade, with the sixth-grade group slightly above 
it. Remembering again that our groups are at the beginning of the 
year, this calculation would show the fifth-grade group advanced 
one and one-half years in average score, and the sixth-grade group 
advanced one-half year. Without going into the argument as to the 
relative merits of these two scales, it seems safe to assume that the 
experimental group, in terms of average score, is advanced at least 
one year in average quality of handwriting. 

Spelling 

For testing ability in spelling, three of the lists in Ayres's scale for 
Spelling^ were used; List N. given on October 2, List R, given October 
20, and List U, given October 30. Table IX exhibits the average, the 
median, and the range of the percentage of words of each list spelled 
correctly by each of the two grades. 

TABLE IX 

Percentage of Words Spelled Correctly. Lists N, R, U, Ayres' Spelling Scale 



List 


Grade 


Median 


Average 


Range 


N 


5 
6 

5 
6 

5 
6 


92.00 
97.52 

80.80 
93.03 

48.53 
75.00 


91.52 
97.27 

73.21 
91.43 

50.00 
75.29 


70.13-98 70 


R 


92.21-100.0 
25 00-98.21 


U 


64.29-98.21 
9 67-76 47 




29.41-97.06 



In Table X we have the standard percentages for each list, by 
grades, from data furnished by Ayres. 



^ Ayres, L. P. A Measuring Scale for Ability in Spelling. 



58 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



TABLE X 

Standard Percentages of Words Spelled Correctly hy Grades, Lists N, R, U, Ayres' 
Spelling Scale {After Ayres) 



Grade 


ListN 


ListR 


ListU 


4 


77-81 

87-90 

94-95 

98 

100 


46-54 
63-69 
77-81 
87-90 
94r-95 




5 

6 

7 


55-62 
70-76 


8 


82-86 







Accepting the median as the truer measure of the central tendency, 
which it probably is in this case (although the difference between 
median and average assumes importance only with List R, especially 
in the fifth grade), we have, by combining Tables IX and X, a table 
which shows us the grade of spelling ability reached by the median 
score and range of each grade. 

TABLE XI 

Grade of Spelling A hility Reached or Exceeded by Median and Extreme Scores of Each 
Grade in Experimental Room. Lists N, R, U, Ayres' Spelling Scale 





Grade 


Grade 

Reached by 

Median Score 


Grades Reached by 
Extreme Scores 


List 


Lowest 


Highest 


N 


5 
6 

5 
6 

5 
6 


5.5 
7.0 

6.00 

7.75 

* 
7 


3 
5 

3 
5 

* 
* 


7 


R.... 


8 
8 


U 


8 
6 




8 



No standards for corresponding scores given in this list. 



It will be seen, upon examination of Table XI, that each of the 
grades in the special room had reached a degree of spelling ability 
approximately equal to that of the grade above it. The difference is 
more marked than it appears to be, when we take into consideration 
the fact that these lists were given at the beginning of the year, and 
it is, therefore, a very conservative estimate to say that the selected 
pupils are as a group one year advanced in spelling ability. 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCA TIONAL TESTS 59 

With the idea that a more rigorous test of spelling than the Ayres 
scale should be employedtoobtain valid results, the superintendent of 
schools, during the first week in April, 1917, gave Lists Three and 
Four of Starch's tests in spelling"^ to all the 5th and 6th-grade pupils 
in the building. The average percentage of words spelled correctly, 
by grades and rooms, was as shown in Table XII. 

TABLE XII 

Percentage of Words Spelled Correctly bv Fifth and Sixth Grade Pupils. Starch's 
Spelling Tests, 'Lists III and IV 
Room and 
Grade * Per Cent 

5F 68.13 

5 Y 61.50 

5 Exp 71.30 

6F 69.68 

6G 72.02 

6 Exp 79.05 

* It will be noted that this table includes Rooms 5-6 F, 5 Y, and 6 G, which have 
already been described as forming a control group. See Chapter III. 

Starch gives as standards for each grade the percentages indicated 

in Table XIII. 

TABLE XIII 

Standard Scores. Starch's Spelling Test 
Grades V VI VII VIII 

Percentage of Words Correct 61 71 78 85 

By comparing our results with the standard scores, we find that the 
experimental fifth grade, which at the time of the test, had really 
become a sixth grade in respect to the work it was doing, was up to 
the 6th-grade standard in spelling ability. Likewise, the special 
6th grade, then virtually doing 7th-grade work, was up to the stand- 
ard for that grade. Of the control groups, all were up to grade, or 
better, with the exception of the class designated as 6 F, which was a 
little below the standard for its grade. The results of the Starch 
tests, then, corroborated those obtained earlier in the year with the 
Ayres test and confirmed the assertion of the investigators that the 
selected pupils, were, as a group, distinctly superior in ability to spell. 

Arithmetic 
Several different methods of testing arithmetical abilities were 
used during the year. To determine efficiency in the four funda- 

* Starch, D. Educational Measurements, pp. 88-98. 



60 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



mentals, the Woody Arithmetic Scales, Series A, were used.^ This 
series consists of a set of four graded scales, one for each of the funda- 
mental operations. They were given to the pupils of the experi- 
mental room on the dates indicated in Table XIV, in the manner 
prescribed by their author, and the class score in each of the opera- 
tions was calculated according to his directions. This score represents 
the degree of difhculty on the scale of that problem which could be 
solved with absolute accuracy by just 50 per cent of the class. 



TABLE XIV 

Class Scores, Experimental Room, Woody Arithmetic Scales, Series A 






Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Addition 


Nov. 7 
Nov. 10 
Nov. 13 
Nov. 14 


8.18 
6.91 
6.37 
6.14 


8.39 


Subtraction 


7.55 


Multiplication 


7 39 


Division 


7 34 







Woody gives the figures shown in Table XV as the tentative stand- 
ards of achievement in these scales, when the tests are given during 
the first part of the school year. They are, then, directly comparable 
with our scores. 

TABLE XV 
Tentative Standards of Achievement, Woody Arithmetic Scales, Series A 



Grade 


Addition 


Subtraction 


Multiplicat'n 


Division 


V 


6.99 
7.95 
8.65 
9.01 


5.47 
6.46 
7.31 
7.64 


5.53 
6.72 
7.26 
7.93 


4.94 


VI 


5.87 


VII 


6 59 


VIII 


7 16 







Comparing our class scores with these tentative standards, we 
find that our fifth grade excels the 6th-grade standard in addition, 
subtraction, and division, and almost reaches it in multiplication; 
while our sixth grade, although not quite reaching the 7th-grade 
standard in addition, goes beyond it in subtraction and multiplication, 
and excels the 8th-grade standard in division. 

As the Woody scales were originally published, they consisted 
of two series of four scales each, so that each scale tested ability in 
only one of the fundamentals. A modification of them has since 
been published, consisting of two sheets of problems, representing 

^ Woody, C. Measurements of Some Achievements in Arithmetic. Teachers College, 
Columbia University Contributions to Education, No. 80, pp. 3-22. 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 



61 



all four of the fundamental operations upon one scale.* Since norms 
for the scales in this form have not yet been published, we gave them 
not only to the pupils of the experimental room, but also to those 
other rooms of the same grade in the building that afforded the con- 
trol group already described. Scale I was given in all the rooms on 
February 1. Scale II was given to the control rooms on February 9, 
and to the experimental room on February 12. The results have 
been scored in two ways: (1) by finding the number of problems 
correctly solved within the time-limit of 20 minutes, and (2) by com- 
puting the time in seconds required for one correct solution. Tables 
XVI-XIX show these scores for each scale. 



TABLE XVI 

Woody-McCall Arithmetic Scales, Mixed Fundamentals, B I. 

in Ttvcnty Minutes 



Number Correct Solutions 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 


Number 


Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Correct 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


14 




1 


1 

2 
3 
2 
3 
5 
3 
13 
8 
5 
1 
2 
2 













1 

1 

4 
2 

4 

2 










1 

1 
1 
2 
2 
6 
8 
4 
4 
7 
7 
6 
4 
2 

1 





15 





16 





17 





18 





19 





20 





21 





22 





23 





24 


1 


25 


1 


26 


2 


27 


1 


28 


3 


29 





30 


3 


31 


1 


32 


3 


2,i 









Sum 


24.85 
23.95 
14-30 


51 

24.46 
23.31 
14-29 


14 

26,25 
26.34 
21-30 


25.84 
25.09 
17-33 


56 

26.25 
24.10 
17-33 


15 


Group : 

Median 


28.84 


Average 


28.60 


Range 


24-32 







8 Woody-McCall Arithmetic Scales, Mixed Fundamentals, Series B, I and II. 



62 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK—PART II 



TABLE XVII 

Woody-McCall Arithmetic Scales, Mixed Fundamentals, B I. Time Required for One 

Correct Solution 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 


Time in 
Seconds 


Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


84-82 





1 



1 
1 
1 
2 
3 
6 
3 
13 
11 
5 
2 
2 

















1 



3 
4 
1 

2 
1 
2 




::;:: 






1 



2 
3 
4 
9 
7 

14 
9 
3 
2 
2 








81-79 





78-76 





75-73 





72-70 





69-67 





66-64 





63-61 





60-58 





57-58 





54-52 





51-49 





48-46 


1 


45-43 





42-40 


1 


39-37 


2 


36-34 





33-31 


3 


30-28 ; 


4 


27-25 


2 


24-22 


2 






Sum 


48.42 

49.35 

83.6-30.2 


51 

50.00 
51.60 

83.6-35.2 


14 

43.25 

41.11 

57.2-30.2 


43.50 

43.00 

70.6-23.3 


56 

44.43 

46.03 

70.6-31.9 


15 


Group : 

Median 


30.25 


Average 


31.70 


Range 


48.0-2.33 







RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 



63 



TABLE XVIII 

Woody-McCall Arithmetic Scales, Mixed Fundamentals, B IT. 
Solutions in Twenty Minutes 



Number Correct 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 


Number 
Correct 


Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


13 




3 



1 
2 

1 
2 
4 
6 
10 
8 
6 
4 
1 
5 
















2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
3 
1 
2 














4 
3 
3 
7 
3 
7 
7 
5 
1 
4 
6 
5 
2 





14 





15 





16 





17 





18 





19 





20 





21 





22 





23 





24 





25 


1 


26 





27 


3 


28 


3 


29 


1 


30 


2 


31 


2 


32 


1 


33 


2 






Sum 


25.39 
24.57 
13-31 


53 

24.75 
23.71 
13-39 


15 

28.25 
27.60 
24-31 


27.85 
27.15 
21-33 


57 

27.28 
26.59 
21-33 


15 


Group : 
Median 


29.50 


Average 


29.26 


Range 


25-33 







64 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



TABLE XIX 

Woody-McCall Arithmetic Scales, Mixed Fundamentals, B II. Time Required for One 

Correct Solution 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 


Time in 
Seconds 


Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


93-91 




2 






1 
1 




1 
1 

3 
1 
3 
7 
6 
5 
2 
5 
4 
6 
5 























2 

3 
1 
5 
2 
1 
1 


















2 
2 
3 
1. 
6 
3 
6 
4 
11 
5 
8 
5 
1 







90-88 





87-85 





84-82 





81-79 





78-76 





75-73 





72-70 





69-67 





66-64 





63-61 





60-58 





57-55 





54-52 





51-49 





48-46 





45-43 





42-40 





39-37 





36-34 


1 


33-31 


1 


30-28 





27-25 


4 


24-22 


4 


21-19 


4 


18-16 





15-13 


1 






Sum 


39.00 

40.69 

92.3-20.4 


53 

42.20 

43.50 

92.3-24.8 


15 

29.25 

30.70 

40-20.4 


31.40 
34.16 

54.5-14.5 


57 

33.00 

35.37 

54.5-20.6 


15 


Group: 
Median 


22.33 


Average 


23.80 


Range 


35.2-14.5 







An examination of these tables reveals a marked superiority of 
the pupils of the special room over those of the same grades in the 
regular rooms. On Scale I, the median score for number of correct 
solutions in 20 minutes is, for the special fifth grade, almost two 
problems better than the median for the 5th-grade control group, 
and the difference is over two problems in case of the two 6th-grade 
groups. On Scale II, the special fifth grade exceeds its control group 
in median score by three and one-half problems, and the correspond- 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCA TIONAL TESTS 65 

ing difiference in favor of the special 6th grade is practically two and 
one-fourth problems. If the averages are taken instead of the 
medians, all these differences are materially increased. 

In the score by time required for one correct solution, Scale I, 
the special 5th-grade's median time is shorter by 6.75 seconds than 
that of its control group, and the special 6th grade is faster than its 
control group by over 14 seconds. For Scale II, the corresponding 
differences are 13 seconds (nearly) and 10.66 seconds. For both 
scales, and by both methods of scoring, in every case the median score 
of the special 5th-grade group reaches or exceeds the median score of 
the 6th-grade control group, and in every case but one (Table XVII) 
it exceeds that of the total 6th-grade group. 

Bonser's tests for mathematical judgment^ were given to the 
different rooms early in March. These consist of two sets of five 
two-step problems, stated in the usual textbook form (Test I, A and 
B), and two sets of five problems of the same difficulty as the preced- 
ing, so far as the processes which are involved are concerned, but 
stated in a less familiar way (Test II, A and B). Bonser says that 
Tests I and II test mathematical judgment, or, in general, that form 
of deductive reasoning of the usual scientific type, involving data, 
principles, and inferences. In giving them, when the first pupil to 
finish had completed his work, all turned the papers face downward, 
and they were collected. They were given first in the experimental 
room, and the time-limit for each grade in the control room was 
fixed at the number of seconds it took the first child in that grade in 
the special room to finish. This made the time in the fifth grade for 
List I A, 108 seconds; for List I B, 94 seconds; for List II A, 107 
seconds; and for List II B, 64 seconds. The corresponding time- 
limits in the sixth grade were 103, 82, 73, and 64 seconds, respectively. 
In scoring the papers, Bonser's directions were followed, so that a 
grade of 2 was given for each correct solution of a problem in arith- 
metic. If one part of a two-step problem was right, and the other 
not, a grade of 1 was given. No deductions were made for inac- 
curacies in operations. In the accompanying table the scores of the 
four different lists have been combined, by adding, into one score for all. 

* Bonser, F. G. The Reasoning Ability of Children of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth 
School Grades. Teachers College, Columbia University Contributions to Education, 
No. 37, pp. 2, 10, 14, 16. 



66 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



Bonser's 


Reasoning 


TABLE XX 

Tests I and II. (Mathematical Judgment) 






NUMBER or PUPILS 

1 






Fifth Grade 


( 


Sixth Grade 


Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 







5 
7 
6 
7 
7 
2 
5 
1 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
1 











2 

2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
3 
2 





1 















3 
7 

10 
6 
3 

10 
2 
5 
2 
4 
2 
1 
5 













1-2 





3-4 





5-6 





7-8 


2 


9-10 


1 


11-12 


1 


13-14 





15-16 


2 


17-18 


1 


19-20 





21-22 


1 


23-24 


2 


25-26 


2 


27-28 


2 


29-30 





31-32 





33-34 





35-36 





37-38 





39-40 


1 






Sum 


8.25 
9.19 
0-30 


47 

6.7 

7.7 
0-25 


15 

14.5 
13.89 
4-30 


10.59 

11.88 

0-39 


60 

10.15 
9.78 
0-24 


15 


Group : 
Median 


22.50 


Average 

Range 


20.27 
8-39 



Here again, as with the tests in fundamentals, the selected group 
is far superior to the control group, and it is likewise again true that 
the median and average score for the special 5th grade exceed the 
median and average of the whole group of 6th-grade pupils, when 
those in the special room are not treated separately. 



Language 

The first of the several tests of language ability which were used 
was Winch's test for the invention of stories. This test is fully 
described in Whipple's Manual (Part II, p. 269), and may be re- 
garded as putting a premium upon literary ability, or constructive 
imagination in the field of words. In giving it, there was presented 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 



67 



to each subject a sheet of paper at the top of which were printed ten 
words, with the instruction to write a story in which each of these ten 
words should be used. No time-limit was imposed. This test was 
given only to the special room, and was given twice. On October 31, 
the following list of words was used: orphan, garden, hungry, station, 
parents, clothing, visitor, cottage, train, country; on November 3 the 
test was repeated, with the following words: snowstorm, children, 
ticket, clock, dog, screams, church, basket, river, ice. The stories which 
the pupils wrote were graded by 17 graduate students in education, 
using the Hillegas-Thorndike scale for the measurement of quality in 
English composition,^" with the results which are shown in Table XXI. 







TABLE XXI 

Quality of Composition (16 Judges) 






"Orphan" 
List 


"Snowstorm" 
List 




("Median. . 

Average. . 

[Range. . . 




37.8 

38.02 

27.7-47.6 

47.2 

47.8 

33.7-63.0 


37 7 


Fifth Grade 




39 42 






28 4 49 1 




f Median. . 




45 6 


Sixth Grade 


Average . . 
L Range. . . 




44.1 
28.6-62.5 



Starch^^ publishes standards for the Hillegas-Thorndike scale, 
derived from the ratings of compositions written by over 5,000 pupils, 
including the reports of the Butte, Montana, and Salt Lake City, 
Utah, surveys. Trabue, as a result of his investigations of composi- 
tion tests and measurements in a number of typical school systems, 
including those mentioned above, has proposed tentative standard 
medians, showing the quality of compositions to be expected from at 
least half of a normal class at the end of any given school year.^^ 
These proposed standards are higher than the majority of the schools 
in Trabue's list have actually achieved, although at each grade at 
least one school has excelled the standard. Both Starch's and 
Trabue's standards are given in Table XXII. 

^° Thorndike, E. L. Preliminary Extension of the Hillegas Scale for the Measure- 
ment of Quality in English Composition by Young People. 

" Starch, D. Educational Measurements, p. 145. 

12 Trabue, M. R. Supplementing the Hillegas Scale. Teachers College Record, 
18: 51-84. 



68 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK—PART 11 



TABLE XXII 

Standard Scores for the Hillegas-Thorndike Scale {After 


Starch and Trabue) 




Grades 


IV 


V 


VI 


VII 


VIII 


Standards (Starch) 


26 
35 


31 
40 


36 

45 


41 
50 


46 


Standards (Trabue) 


55 







By comparing our results with these scores, it will be seen that our 
special 5th-grade pupils at the beginning of the year had reached a 
standard of quality in English composition almost equal to Starch's 
7th-grade standard, and that the 6th-grade, if we take the mean of the 
two tests, had 8th-grade ability at that time. By Trabue's standards, 
which are admittedly somewhat higher than those found in practice, 
the 5 th grade at the beginning of the year had practically that degree 
of ability to be expected from them at the close of the year, and the 
same thing is true of the sixth grade. 

It must be remembered, however, that in giving a list of ten 
words which must be used in these stories, a factor was introduced 
which would not have to be reckoned with in rating compositions 
written under ordinary circumstances. Just what the effect of this 
factor would be, is difficult to determine; it is a question whether 
compositions thus written would grade higher or lower on the scale 
than those written under a set subject. I am inclined to think, 
however, that furnishing the list of words tended to raise the quality 
of the composition, and that, therefore, our scores are just a little too 
high to be a fair measure of the ability of these pupils in composition. 
The words that were given in the test probably suggested a plot and 
made for a coherent development that otherwise might not have 
been obtained. On the other hand, there was the disadvantage of 
loss of freedom and initiative, with the consequent creation of a 
somewhat artificial situation. 

Trabue's Language Scales 
In Trabue's Completion-Test Language Scales, we have a test for 
language ability of a different type. These scales represent varieties 
of the well-known completion method, or completion tests, which 
consist of a series of sentences in which certain words are elided. The 
task is to fill each blank with a single word that makes sense. There 
is evidence that there is a rather high positive correlation between 



RESULTS OF THEIeDUCATIONAL TESTS 



69 



ability in Trabue's tests and ability in other tests of language and 
also general intelligence. Scales B and C of these tests were given to 
the special room in the latter part of October, and to the control 
rooms about the middle of December. They were given and scored 
in exact accordance with Trabue's directions. ^^ For our purposes, the 
scores for the two tests have been combined, by adding, into a single 
score. The scores thus obtained are displayed in Table XXIII. 

TABLE XXIII 

Combined Scores, Trabice Language Scales B atid C 









NUMBER or PUPILS 








Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


12 




2 
1 


2 
2 

3 
2 
3 
6 
7 
2 
8 
2 

3 

1 


I 















1 
1 
3 


3 
2 
1 
2 


1 
1 







1 




2 
1 

4 
2 
4 
7 
6 
5 
2 
2 
6 
6 
3 
2 
3 
1 
1 









13 





14 





15 





16 





17 





18 





19 





20 





21 


1 


22 





23 


1 


24 


1 


25 


1 


26 


1 


27 


5 


28 





29 


1 


30 


1 


31 





32 





33 





34 


1 


35 


1 


36 


1 






Sum 


23.80 
23.25 
12-33 


46 

22.48 
22.39 
12-32 


15 

26.70 
26.30 
21-33 


24.83 
24.32 
13-36 


58 

23.39 
23.50 
13-32 


15 


Group : 


27.50 


Average 


27.90 




21-36 







1' Trabue, M. R. Completion-Test Language Scales. Teachers College, Columbia 
University Contributions to Education, No. 77, especially pp. 19-22, 78-80, 117-118, 



70 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART TI 



In this test, again, the median and average scores attained by the 
5th-grade pupils in the special room are above those for the 6th 
grade of the school, taken as a single group. Trabue gives the follow- 
ing as the tentative standard scores in his Language Scales B, C, D, 
and E, which, he says, are practically equal in difficulty. 

TABLE XXIV 

Tentative Standard Scores in Trabue's Language Scales B, C, D, and E (Trabue) 



Grade 


V 


VI 


VII 


VIII 


IX 


X 


XI 


XII 


Median 


9.6 


11.0 


12.3 


13.3 


14.2 


15.3 


15.8 


16.2 



Since in Table XXIII the individual scores represent the sum of 
the scores in two scales, if we assume those scales to be of equal 
difficulty, the scores there given may be compared with the standards 
by dividing them by 2. With that adjustment, it wiU be seen that the 
special 5th grade reaches the 8th-grade standard, and the 6th grade 
almost, though not quite, reaches the 9th-grade. The total 5th-grade 
group, treated in the mass, excels the 6th-grade standard, and in the 
same way the total 6th grade goes above the standard proposed for 
the seventh. Trabue remarks, however, that his proposed standards 
are more likely to prove too low than too high. 

Reading 

The reading scales which were used were those devised by Thorn- 
dike, namely, his Reading Scale A^* and Reading Scale Alpha 2}^ 
Reading Scale A, or the "visual vocabulary scale," is designed to 
measure ability in reading words, while Scale Alpha 2 measures ability 
in paragraph reading. Both scales primarily measure comprehension, 
leaving speed out of account, although the latter is an important 
element in reading. 

Thorndike Reading Scale A, the visual vocabulary scale, was given 
to the selected room on October 17, and to the control rooms on 
January 18, just three months later. This difference in time would 
work to the disadvantage of the selected pupils, and must be taken 
into account in comparing their scores with those made by the pupils 
in the other rooms. By Thorndike's method of scoring, the selected 

1* Thorndike, E. L. The measurement of ability in reading. Teachers College 
Record, 15: September, 1914, 207-277. 

1^ Thorndike, E. L. An improved scale for measuring ability in reading. 
Teachers College Record, 16: November, 1915, 31-53. 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 



71 



5th grade attained a class score of 6 . 38 and the selected 6th grade one 
of 7.83. Thorndike's standards for this test, by class scores, are for 
the 5th grade, 5.3; for the 6th, 6.4; for the 7th, 7.1; and for the 8th, 
8.2. It will be seen, then, that our 5th grade, shortly after the 
beginning of the year, had attained practically the 6th-grade standard 
in this test, while the 6th grade, at the same time, had almost achieved 
the 8th-grade standard. 

In addition to being scored according to Thorndike's directions, 
this test was also scored by the method of dividing the per cent of 
accuracy by the time. Table XXV shows the results as scored by the 
latter method. 

TABLE XXV 
Thorndike's Reading Scale A, Accuracy Divided by Time 









NUMBER OF PUPILS 








Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grad 


i 


Score* 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


21-30 




1 







1 





31-40 




8 







1 





41-50 




5 


2 




2 





51-60 




5 


3 




3 





61-70 




8 


1 




3 





71-80 




4 
6 


2 





7 
7 


2 


81-90 





91-100 




3 
2 
2 


1 
3 
1 




8 
6 

■ 5 





101-110 


1 


111-120 


1 


121-130 




1 


1 




3 


1 


131-140 




5 







2 


2 


141-150 




1 







1 


1 


151-160 












2 


1 


161-170 












3 


2 


171-180 


















181-190 















1 


191-200 












1 


1 


201-210 







1 




1 





211-220 


'.'.'.'.'. 






















2 

1 









221-230 





231-240 





241-250 


1 


251-260 





261-350 





351-360 


1 


Sum 




51 


15 




59 


15 


Group : 




Median 


72.5 
78.5 


71.3 
75.3 


78.4 
89.3 


104.3 
117.2 


100.4 
106.7 


147.4 


Average 


158.5 


Range 


26-204.4 


41-204.4 


26-145 


26-354.5 


26-236 


78-354.5 



' To avoid decimal points, these scores have been multiplied by 100. 



72 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART TI 



Thorndike's Scale Alpha 2 was given in all the rooms at about the 
middle of February. In scoring the results, only Steps 7 to 9, inclu- 
sive, were taken into account. This test was also scored in two ways. 
The class score for the special 5th grade, computed by Thorndike's 
methods, was 7 . 14, and for the 6th it was 7 . 25. Thorndike's standard 
for the 5th grade is 5 . 7 ; for the 6th, 6 . 5 ; for the 7th, 7.0; and for the 
8th, 7.5. The special 5th grade, therefore, at the time this test was 
given, had attained an ability in comprehension of paragraphs some- 



TABLE XXVI 

Thorndike's Reading Scale Alpha 2, Steps 7 to 9. Scores by Sum of Weighted Answers 





NUMBER 


DF PUPILS 




Fifth Grade 


; 


< 


sixth Grade 




Scores 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


11- 15 




1 

2 
1 

1 
3 
3 
3 
6 
4 
4 
4 
3 
7 
1 
2 
2 

4 

















1 






1 

1 
1 




1 

2 


2 
2 
2 
1 



1 








1 


4 
1 
2 
4 
4 
1 
5 
7 
2 
5 

3 
3 
1 
4 
4 
1 
2 

2 
1 
1 
1 





16-20 





21-25 





26-30 





31-35 





36-40 


1 


41-45 





46-50 





51-55 





56-60 





61-65 





66-70 





71-75 


3 


76-80 


1 


81-85 


1 


86-90 





91-95 


1 


96-100 





101-105 





106-110 





111-115 


1 


116-120 


3 


121-125 





126-130 


1 


131-135 


1 


136-140 





141-145 





146-151 


2 






Sum 


74.5 

75.63 

14-141.66 


51 

76.5 

68.14 

14-108.3 


15 

112.25 

101.00 

44r-141.66 




82.25 
86.96 
21-149 


59 

76.83 
82.44 
21-148 


15 


Group: 
Median 


113.50 


Average 


102.04 


Range 


39-149 







RESULTS OF THE EDUCA TIONA L TESTS 73 

what above the standard to be expected of the 7th grade, while the 
special 6th grade was a little higher, though not quite up to the 8th- 
grade standard. Allowing for the fact that at the time this test was 
given these special grades were, by virtue of the work they had done 
and were doing, really at the beginning of the 6th and 7 th grades, 
respectively, their class scores are a year ahead of the standards set 
for the test. 

The other way in which Scale Alpha 2 was scored was by multi- 
plying the number of correct answers at each step of the scale by the 
value of the step and taking the sum of the products thus obtained. 
Table XXVI (on opposite page) displays the results by this method 
of scoring. 

The difference in favor of the special room over the control 
rooms is much more marked with Scale Alpha 2 than with 
Scale A. It will be noticed that on the latter scale, the selected 5th 
grade in median score again excels the total 6th grade. This did not 
happen with the scores for Scale A, but it must be remembered that, 
as that scale was given, the control rooms had an advantage of three 
months' time over the experimental room — a circumstance which 
would tend to decrease somewhat the difference between them. 

Summary 

This chapter has been devoted to a consideration of the results 
obtained by applying various tests of ability in the fundamental 
branches of the course of study to the pupils of the experimental 
room at different times throughout the year. In some cases it has 
been possible to compare these results with standard scores or norms 
already evaluated or proposed. In other cases, the scores obtained in 
the experimental room have been compared with results secured by 
giving the same tests to a control group, made up of children in other 
rooms enrolling pupils of the same grades. Quality of handwriting 
was measured by the Ayres and Thorndike scales, spelling ability by 
Ayres' scale and Starch's lists, ability in the fundamental operations 
of arithmetic by the Woody arithmetic scales and the Woody-McCall 
scales in the mixed fundamentals, arithmetical reasoning by Bonser's 
tests for mathematical judgment, quality of composition by the 
Hillegas-Thorndike scale, linguistic ability of a more general type by 



74 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Trabue's completion-test language scales, ability to comprehend 
words by Thorndike's reading scale A, and ability to comprehend 
sentences by the same author's reading scale Alpha 2. 

The results of these tests have been markedly consistent. When 
the pupils of the special room are measured by the scales and tests in 
any subject for which norms have been provided, they are found to be 
at least one year advanced. In every case, save two, when the scores 
of a test in the special room have been compared with the scores made 
by the control groups in the same test, it has been seen that the 
median score attained by the special 5th grade has reached or 
exceeded that made by the whole 6th grade of the school, treated as a 
single group, and including, it is to be remembered, the 6th-grade 
pupils enrolled in the special room. The two exceptions are found in 
the Woody-McCall Scale B I, when scored by time required for onal 
correct solution (Table XVII) and in the Thorndike visual vocabu- 
lary reading scale, when scored by accuracy divided by tirne (Table 
XXV). 

In the last chapter it was shown that, judged by the ordinary 
estimates of the quality of school work — teachers' marks, examina- 
tion marks, and the like — the 5th-grade class of the experimental 
room had, by about the middle of the year, been recognized as ready 
and fit to go on with the work of the next grade, and that they had! 
accordingly taken up that work. The same thing is true of the 
special 6th grade. The results of the tests which have been discussed 
in this chapter show that the 5 th grade at that time had become in all 
reality a 6th grade — and not merely a 6th grade because it was doing 
the work of the 6th year in the course of study; it had been measured 
against the total 6th-grade group of the school, and had been found tc . 
equal or surpass it in median and average achievement. It has not 
been possible to measure the special 6th grade against the 7th grade of 
the school, but so far as we have been able to determine by the use of 
the tests for which standards are given, it, too, has justified the actior 
of those in charge of it in allowing it to take up the work of the 7th 
grade. So long as only teachers' marks or opinions are offered as 
evidence in favor of the rapid advancement of bright pupils, the 
question may arise whether these pupils are advanced in anything 
more than name. In this particular case, however, the judgment of 
the teacher and the superintendent concerning the ability of the 



RESULTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL TESTS 75 

pupils to do the work of the next higher grade was corroborated by 
the more scientific scales and tests, which showed that, although these 
pupils were by May 1st a year ahead of where they would have been 
in the course of study had they remained in the regular rooms, they 
were not misplaced, at least so far as ability in the fundamental 
branches was concerned. 

If we admit the validity of the various tests and scales, and if we 
admit that the conditions under which the experiment was carried out 
may be regarded as typical — and it is difficult to find any reason for 
not admitting it — then we have shown that children representing at 
least the top tenth of the 5th and 6th grades are able to do two years 
of the work of those grades in one year. 



CHAPTER V 

RESULTS OF A PRACTICE-TEST IN 
MULTIPLICATION 

In order to secure information concerning the effects of practice, or 
drill, a practice-test in multiplication was carried on during the two 
weeks between February 23 and March 12, 1917. The material used 
for this experiment consisted of Sheets 15 and 16 of Thompson's 
Minimum Essentials in Arithmetic} Sheet 16 is a quick-written test 
sheet in multiplication including products up to 100 not given in 
multiplication tables 1-12. It contains 162 indicated multiplications, 
each followed by a space in which the product is to be written, thus: 
13X5= ,2X13= , and so on. Sheet 15 is a practice sheet of 
exactly similar character, save that it is printed on both sides, so that 
the incomplete multiplications on Side A are repeated on Side B, 
but in a different order. 

On Friday, February 23, Sheet 16 was used in giving a check test 
to all the rooms in the building enrolling pupils in the 5th or 6th 
grades, namely. Room 5 Y, containing 38 pupils; Px.oom 5-6 F, with 
19 5th-grade and 19 6th-grade pupils; Room 6 G, enrolling 43 pupils 
in the 6th grade; and the 'experimental,' or 'special,' room, which at 
the time this test was given had a membership of 16 in the 5th and 
16 in the 6th grade (at about the middle of the year a pupil had been 
transferred to each of these grades from one of the regular rooms). 
It will be remembered that Rooms 5 Y, 5-6 F, and 6 G constitute 
what in previous chapters has been referred to as the "control group." 
The practice test itself was not carried out in Room 5-6 F, but that 
room was tested at the beginning and at the end of the experiment, 
and thus served as a check upon the improvement in the other rooms, 
the better so because it contained pupils of both the grades which 
were receiving practice. 

1 Ginn and Company, Publishers. 

76 



PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTI PLICA TTON 77 

Method of Giving the Tests 

In giving this initial test, the papers were distributed face down, 
the nature of the work to be done was carefully explained to the chil- 
dren, and they were told to work as rapidly as possible. At a given 
signal they turned the papers over and began work. As soon as any 
child had finished, he raised his hand, and his time, taken on a stop- 
watch, was immediately recorded. In scoring the papers, the per 
cent of accuracy was computed for each, and the time reduced to 
seconds. These two measures were combined into a smgle measure by 
dividing the time by the per cent of accuracy, thus obtaining a quan- 
tity which may be described as the number of seconds required to 
attain one per cent of accuracy. The same test was given at the close 
of the two weeks' practice and scored in the same way. The results of 
these two tests are exhibited in tables which will be included in the 
present chapter. 

The actual practice was done under a somewhat different method. 
For this, Sheet 15, which has already been described, was used. Since 
this sheet is printed upon both sides, it was decided, in order to restrict 
the learning to the "multiplication facts" (to use Thompson's phrase) 
that are involved, to begin the practice on one side of the sheet one 
day and the other the next. Consequently, the first day's practice 
began on Side A, the second on Side B, and so on as long as the prac- 
tice lasted. In this way, there was less opportunity for forming con- 
nections between adjacent products or for learning the products as a 
series down a column. In giving the practice tests the papers were 
distributed with the side upon which the day's practice was to begin 
turned down. Practically the same instructions and methods of 
beginning the work were used as in connection with the initial check 
test. Each day's practice was limited to ten minutes, at the end of 
which time a signal to stop was given, and the papers were collected. 
If any pupil succeeded in finishing the first side of the sheet before the 
end of the practice period, he turned the sheet over and began work on 
the other side. The few pupils who now and then succeeded in finish- 
ing both sides within the allotted ten minutes were at once supplied 
with another copy of the same sheet, handed them in such a way that 
they began work on the same side with which they had begun the 
first sheet. 



78 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

The first practice test was given on Monday, February 27; the last 
one on Friday, March 9, with the final check test on the following 
Monday. It will be observed that Saturday and Sunday intervened 
between the initial test and the first practice, and that the same inter- 
ruption came between the fifth and sixth practice periods, and be- 
tween the last practice period and the final check test. All the tests 
were given at the same time of day in each room, and as nearly as 
possible at the same time in all the rooms. In Rooms 6G and 5Y they 
were given at 1:30 P.M., and in the special room at 2:00 P.M.^ In 
Room 5-6F the check tests, which were the only ones given, were in 
each case given at three o'clock in the afternoon. 

Method or Scoring 

In scoring the results the pupils exchanged papers and marked 
mistakes as the correct products were read to them. The scoring of 
the pupils was afterwards checked, but almost no errors were found. 
The score for each paper was taken simply as the number of correct 
products written in ten minutes. 

At the close of each day's practice the pupils were told their scores 
of the day before. These they recorded, and were thereby enabled to 
keep track of their progress. The effect of this was to ward off a drop 
in efficiency through loss of interest. Those who had the experiment 
in charge feel that there was no such loss, although at the close of the 
second week of practice there were signs that a decline in interest 
might have appeared, in the case of at least some of the pupils, had 
the experiment been continued much longer. 

The accompanying tables show, by rooms and individuals, the 
daily scores (correct multiplications) made during the ten practice 
periods. No broken records are included; that is, the scores are given 
only for those pupils who were present for practice every day during 
the two weeks. 

'^ The tests were given in Room 6G by the author, in the other rooms by Miss Coy . 



PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTIPLICATION 



79 



TABLE XXVII 

Improvement in Multiplication. Twenty-seve^i Fifth-Grade Pupils. Score by Number 
Correct Products. Room 5 Y 



No.* 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 


1 


98 


113 


105 


117 


130 


129 


129 


141 


157 


156 


2 


201 


213 


239 


240 


270 


267 


292 


278 


298 


290 


3 


69 


84 


68 


99 


88 


105 


108 


110 


113 


121 


5 


187 


182 


188 


183 


202 


160 


254 


236 


251 


272 


6 


63 


65 


60 


75 


88 


71 


79 


106 


104 


131 


10 


53 


66 


60 


72 


79 


82 


88 


82 


108 


120 


11 


120 


132 


159 


178 


196 


175 


189 


204 


202 


184 


12 


57 


86 


64 


106 


111 


115 


133 


122 


123 


142 


13 


84 


83 


67 


53 


84 


87 


88 


94 


95 


96 


14 


98 


96 


96 


113 


113 


113 


141 


144 


150 


161 


16 


199 


180 


196 


185 


205 


202 


223 


203 


187 


203 


17 


131 


135 


158 


162 


154 


136 


166 


160 


173 


175 


18 


111 


119 


135 


153 


165 


163 


178 


186 


188 


195 


19 


137 


117 


118 


153 


158 


161 


167 


178 


193 


213 


20 


91 


82 


79 


108 


117 


103 


143 


130 


129 


147 


21 


97 


100 


111 


131 


141 


158 


161 


161 


176 


175 


22 


58 


56 


53 


55 


85 


94 


91 


107 


110 


146 


23 


168 


157 


146 


170 


159 


166 


184 


197 


222 


218 


24 


71 


94 


111 


120 


137 


125 


150 


157 


144 


145 


26 


108 


114 


130 


140 


150 


147 


174 


170 


176 


181 


27 


67 


76 


77 


71 


75 


94 


93 


84 


95 


103 


28 


130 


149 


154 


173 


183 


169 


196 


197 


210 


212 


29 


88 


90 


110 


143 


147 


149 


168 


162 


174 


172 


30 


93 


88 


103 


100 


123 


127 


135 


149 


155 


180 


32 


79 


74 


96 


77 


95 


102 


122 


170 


135 


129 


37 


79 


78 


90 


101 


113 


123 


116 


134 


156 


150 


41 


88 


92 


95 


114 


120 


132 


149 


147 


133 


137 


Average. . . 


100.96 


108.2 


113.6 


125.8 


136.6 


135.4 


153.2 


155.9 


161.4 


172.4 



Breaks in numbering are caused by the omission of incomplete records. 



80 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



TABLE XXVIII 

Improvement in Multiplication. Twenty-nine Sixth-Grade Pupils. Score by Number 
Correct Products. Room 6 G 



No. 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 


1 


209 


247 


266 


311 


315 


349 


354 


390 


375 


345 


2 


152 


168 


181 


194 


195 


181 


214 


237 


235 


205 


3 


140 


151 


170 


189 


198 


193 


189 


202 


212 


215 


4 


169 


168 


184 


172 


235 


224 


242 


275 


281 


271 


5 


216 


243 


285 


2991 


352 


365 


375 


398 


387 


391 


6 


106 


99 


112 


128 


140 


146 


144 


166 


175 


184 


7 


174 


198 


211 


255 


266 


275 


295 


314 


306 


304 


9 


114 


122 


128 


131 


132 


147 


162 


163 


149 


167 


10 


69 


93 


113 


110 


125 


117 


132 


156 


158 


165 


11 


165 


180 


183 


209 


230 


248 


232 


239 


245 


275 


12 


67 


85 


113 


107 


130 


124 


142 


152 


138 


140 


13 


147 


166 


179 


203 


216 


236 


230 


246 


238 


243 


14 


110 


121 


127 


149 


139 


151 


169 


174 


167 


177 


15 


193 


221 


238 


289 


266 


257 


232 


290 


267 


277 


16 


60 


65 


68 


77 


99 


118 


110 


127 


120 


125 


18 


118 


149 


140 


179 


161 


179 


190 


190 


193 


203 


20 


182 


194 


218 


250 


254 


253 


268 


292 


316 


345 


21 


53 


78 


94 


117 


109 


101 


128 


121 


115 


127 


23 


195 


208 


199 


223 


218 


228 


229 


252 


231 


212 


24 


120 


128 


135 


122 


123 


136 


173 


165 


176 


186 


25 


157 


166 


199 


190 


186 


212 


218 


230 


243 


267 


28 


95 


106 


125 


133 


126 


119 


128 


156 


160 


164 


29 


185 


239 


209 


242 


246 


286 


314 


343 


306 


345 


30 


56 


102 


95 


119 


118 


111 


156 


174 


157 


187 


32 


71 


73 


78 


83 


90 


94 


95 


89 


99 


113 


37 


135 


148 


117 


167 


187 


193 


199 


193 


178 


200 


39 


204 


252 


251 


286 


297 


314 


230 


333 


330 


331 


40 


80 


65 


96 


98 


123 


117 


136 


140 


144 


145 


43 


47 


64 


52 


70 


64 


84 


72 


72 


88 


129 


Average. . . 


130.7 


148.3 


157.5 


175.8 


184.1 


188.6 


202.0 


216.5 


213.1 


222.0 



PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTIPLICATION 

TABLE XXIX 
Improvement in Multiplication. Special Room 



81 



Grade 


No. 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 


Mon. 


Tues. 


Wed. 


Thur. 


Fri. 




1 


90 


92 


128 


116 


153 


147 


153 


168 


187 


194 




2 


115 


98 


132 


142 


174 


153 


149 


124 


152 


168 




3 


122 


161 


175 


189 


203 


194 


201 


214 


211 


226 




4 


73 


76 


96 


94 


124 


129 


135 


137 


154 


194 




5 


78 


100 


118 


146 


159 


160 


163 


159 


186 


175 




6 


99 


99 


81 


114 


130 


131 


146 


151 


158 


165 


V 


8 


118 


99 


118 


140 


137 


150 


155 


175 


185 


193 




10 


126 


156 


168 


186 


192 


193 


194 


204 


198 


205 




11 


111 


145 


142 


136 


160 


162 


152 


174 


174 


175 




13 


134 


105 


108 


116 


104 


135 


151 


134 


157 


164 




14 


60 


76 


93 


99 


96 


106 


102 


115 


120 


129 




15 


104 


113 


152 


151 


174 


150 


161 


187 


204 


211 




31 


95 


89 


94 


111 


105 


114 


110 


126 


130 


144 


A.verage.. 


101.9 


108.4 


123.5 


133.8 


147.0 


148.1 


151.7 


159.1 


170.5 


180.2 




16 


130 


144 


156 


166 


160 


163 


169 


175 


185 


184 




17 


169 


184 


193 


213 


218 


217 


245 


254 


276 


323 




18 


221 


223 


220 


270 


278 


301 


301 


319 


358 


383 




19 


174 


188 


233 


257 


256 


222 


246 


277 


275 


300 




20 


160 


193 


199 


215 


222 


225 


242 


275 


228 


258 




21 


153 


142 


142 


170 


157 


152 


150 


186 


202 


209 




22 


116 


98 


145 


160 


150 


148 


170 


176 


176 


167 


VI 


23 


98 


126 


146 


151 


156 


158 


155 


169 


192 


177 




24 


158 


160 


190 


189 


209 


205 


232 


234 


257 


277 




25 


171 


184 


193 


210 


216 


222 


218 


242 


246 


267 




26 


185 


198 


232 


213 


240 


233 


231 


271 


298 


331 




27 


247 


298 


356 


2M 


365 


379 


370 


402 


393 


405 




28 


139 


165 


184 


222 


239 


243 


243 


247 


26i 


269 




29 


186 


195 


200 


208 


214 


242 


264 


275 


293 


279 




30 


160 


162 


179 


198 


206 


215 


231 


221 


224 


256 




32 


100 


92 


123 


119 


137 


155 


177 


174 


181 


198 


1 
Average.. 


160.4 


172.0 


193.2 


207.8 


213.9 


217.5 


227.8 


243.6 


253.0 


267.7 



The Practice-Curves 
These tables and the curves drawn from them are sufficiently self- 
e\adent as to need Httle discussion. Just a few features may be 
pointed out, however. In the first place, it will be noticed that on the 
first day of the practice test, the average ability of the 5th-grade con- 
trol group and the special 5th-grade group was practically the same 
(about 101 correct solutions in the ten minutes of practice time). At 
the end of the ten periods of practice, the average score of the control 
group was 172, while that of the special group was 180. Of course, 
this is not a great difference even yet, but it must be remembered that 



82 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 

a difference of eight correct solutions at that level represents a 
larger difference in attainment than a difference of eight solutions at 
the level at which the test began. The difference is more marked in 
the case of the 6th-grade groups. The control group began with an 
average score of 131 and made a gross gain of 91, while the selected 
group began 30 multiplications above them and made a gross gain of 
107, so that the difference between the two groups, in average score, 
was larger at the close of the practice than at the beginning, and the 
difference is all the greater when we take into consideration the 
increased difficulty attending improvement as the upper limit is 
more and more closely approached. 

Inspection of the curves drawn from the daily averages of the 
several groups reveals a check in their rise, located at the sixth period, 
which came on a Monday. In this, the influence of the lack of prac- 
tice on Saturday and Sunday may be shown. It will also be observed 
that this loss was rather quickly made up. In only two instances did 
any group in its average score fall below a score which it had already 
attained, and only one of these is of any consequence. This happened 
in Room 6G, or the 6th-grade control group, just after the middle of 
the second week. It is the opinion of the writer that the great 
increase in the room's score upon Wednesday of that week was due to 
an increased enthusiasm arising from a general agreement among the 
pupils that they would see how good a record they could make. If 
such was the case, there was a slight falling off in enthusiasm next 
day, although Friday's score in turn exceeded the high score made on 
Wednesday. It is difficult to determine in any such experiment just 
what part is played by changes in the attitude of the subjects (rivalry, 
increase and decrease of interest, ideals of accuracy, etc.). It really 
does not matter so much, however, since these things are characteris- 
tic traits which enter quite intimately into the work of learning, so 
that to try to eliminate them from a practice experiment like this 
would create an artificial situation. Since the aim of the experiment 
was to see how much improvement these children could make in 
learning these particular number combinations under actual school 
conditions, it was considered unwise to caution them against doing 
things which they otherwise might not think of, and for that reason 
nothing was said about practice at home or elsewhere outside of the 
of the time set apart for it in the schoolroom. So far as could be 
learned after the experiment was finished, very little, if any, outside 
practice was engaged in. 



PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTIPLICATION 



83 



Results of the Check Tests 

To secure data concerning improvement in speed and accuracy, 
as well as to obtain a check upon the experiment in general, the test 
which has been described above as the initial and final check test 
was given to all the rooms which took part in the practice, as well as 
to another room containing pupils of the same grades, but which did 
not participate in the practice series proper. Tables XXX to 
XXXIII, inclusive, show the results obtained by these tests. In 
interpreting the figures given in the last two columns of each of these 
tables, namely, the quotients obtained by dividing the time by the 
accuracy, it must be remembered that the smaller the figure, the 
higher the degree of attainment. 



TABLE XXX 

Results of Initial and Final Check Tests. Fifth-Grade Pupils. 



Room 5 V 



Pupil's 
Number 


PER CENT, or 
ACCURACY 


TIME IN SECONDS 


TIME -7- ACCURACY 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


1 


96.9 
98.1 
99.4 
99.4 
97.5 
98.8 
99.4 
79.0 
94.4 

100.0 
99.4 
95.1 
98.8 
93.8 

100.0 
91.9 
99.4 
96.3 

100.0 
97.5 

100.0 
98.8 
96.9 
98.8 
95.1 


98.1 
99.4 
98.1 
93.8 
97.5 
99.4 
99.4 
83.3 
96.3 

100.0 
99.4 
96.9 
98.1 
97.5 
98.1 
96.3 
99.4 
98.1 

100.0 
99.4 
99.4 
98.1 
96.9 
98.1 
94.4 


802 

583 

1183 

660 

1170 

1350 

870 

1170 

836 

505 

690 

1710 

1000 

805 

1020 

1235 

705 

1030 

1590 

1125 

775 

900 

1155 

1035 

1070 


640 

327 
849 
364 
892 
888 
458 
814 
606 
445 
597 
616 
474 
652 
558 
944 
447 
740 
570 
825 
465 
486 
816 
647 
750 


8.3 

5.9 

11.9 

6.7 

12.0 

13.7 

8.8 

14.8 

8.8 

5.0 

7.0 

18.0 

10.1 

8.6 

10.2 

13.4 

7.1 

10.7 

15.9 

11.5 

7.7 

9.1 

11.9 

10.5 

11.3 


6.5 


2 


3.3 


3 


8.7 


5 


3.9 


6 


9.2 


10 


8.9 


11 


4.6 


13 


9.8 


14 


6.3 


16 


4.5 


17 


6.0 


18 


6.4 


19 


4.8 


20 


5.7 


21 


5.7 


22 

23 

24 

26 

27 


9.8 

4.5 
7.6 

5.7 
8.3 


28 


4.7 


29 


4.9 


32 


8.4 


37 


6.67 


41 


7.9 






Average 

Poorest 

Best 


97.0 

79.0 

100.0 


97.4 

83.3 

100.0 


959 

1710 

505 


608 
944 
327 


10.4 

18.0 

5.0 


6.5 
9.8 
3.3 







84 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



TABLE XXXI 

Results of Initial and Final Check Tests. Sixth-Grade Pupils. Room 6 G 





PEE CENT. OF 
ACCURACY 


TIME IN SECONDS 


TIME -=- ACCURACY 


No. 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


1 


96.9 
99.4 
96.9 
96.9 
98.1 
96.9 
98.8 

100.0 
98.8 
96.3 
98.8 
98.8 
95.1 
96.3 
98.1 
98.8 
98.8 
96.3 
98.8 
93.8 
97.5 
99.4 
87.1 
95.7 
95.7 

100.0 
96.3 
99.4 


95.1 
98.8 
99.4 
95.7 
93.2 
98.8 
79.0 
97.5 

100.0 
95.1 
94.4 
99.4 
96.9 

100.0 
95.1 
99.4 

100.0 
96.9 
95.1 
77.7 
95.1 
99.4 
96.9 

100.0 
92.6 
98.1 

100.0 
99.4 


520 
771 
545 
480 
780 
552 
605 

1050 
780 
561 
830 
630 
562 
940 
610 
548 
830 
450 
725 
600 
840 
560 

1390 
950 
770 
490 
720 

1500 


315 
429 
505 
328 
245 
605 
300 
625 
630 
405 
570 
400 
404 
835 
470 
315 
875 
364 
545 
260 
745 
420 
605 
775 
526 
280 
655 
955 


5.4 
7.8 
5.6 
5.0 
8.0 
5.7 
6.1 

10.5 
7.9 
5.8 
8.4 
6.4 
5.9 
9.9 
6.2 
5.6 
8.4 
4.7 
7.3 
6.4 
8.6 
5.6 

16.0 

10.0 
8.0 
4.9 
7.5 

15.1 


3.3 


2 


4.3 


3 


5.1 


4 


3.5 


5 


2.6 


6 


6.1 


7 


3.8 


9 


6.4 


10 


6.3 


11 


4.3 


12 


6.0 


13 


4.0 


15 


4.2 


16 


8.4 


18 


4.9 


20 


3.2 


21 


8.8 


23 


3.8 


24 


5.7 


25 


3.4 


28 


7.8 


29 


4.2 


30 


6.2 


32 


7.8 


37 


5.7 


39 


2.9 


40 


6.6 


43 


9.6 






Average 

Poorest 

Best 


93.9 

87.1 
100.0 


96.0 

77.7 
100.0 


744 

1500 

450 


527.7 
955.0 
260.0 


7.33 
15.1 

4.5 


5.3 
9.6 
2.6 







PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTIPLICATION 



85 



TABLE XXXII 

Results of Initial and Final Check Tests. Special Room 







PER CENT OF 












No. 


ACCURACY 


TIME IN SECONDS 


TIME -i- ACCURACY 


Grade 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 




1 


99.4 


98.8 


1042 


450 


10,5 


4.6 




2 


96.9 


99,4 


825 


510 


8.5 


5.1 




3 


96,3 


95.7 


703 


305 


7.3 


3.2 




4 


99.4 


100,0 


1341 


792 


13.8 


7.9 




5 


99.4 


99,4 


1170 


556 


11,8 


5.6 




6 


95.7 


99.4 


1178 


623 


12,3 


6.3 


V 


8 
10 


99.4 

98.8 


99,4 
99,4 


805 
760 


432 
406 


8,1 

7.7 


4 4 




4.1 




11 


97.6 


98,1 


883 


504 


9.1 


5.1 




13 


98.8 


97,5 


1053 


526 


10.7 


5.4 




14 


100.0 


100,0 


1232 


712 


12.3 


7.1 




15 


99.4 


98,8 


1070 


495 


10.8 


5.0 




31 


100.0 


99,4 


830 


600 


8.3 


6.0 


Average 




98.5 


98,9 


999 


531 


10,1 


5.3 


Poorest. 




95.7 


95,7 


1341 


792 


13.5 


7.9 


Best.... 




100.0 


100,0 


703 


305 


7.3 


3.2 










16 


96.9 


96,9 


863 


380 


8.9 


3.9 




17 


98.8 


99,4 


703 


317 


7.1 


3.2 




18 


99.4 


96,9 


457 


227 


4.6 


2.3 




19 


98.8 


98.1 


616 


304 


6.2 


3.1 




20 


99.4 


99.4 


590 


390 


6,0 


3.9 




21 


95.1 


96.3 


827 


460 


8.7 


4.8 




22 


98.1 


98.1 


765 


535 


7.8 


5.5 


VI 


23 
24 


97.5 
95.1 


96.9 

95 , 7 


856 
710 


485 
317 


8.3 

7,5 


5.0 




3.3 




25 


98.8 


98,8 


780 


328 


7,9 


3.3 




26 


98.8 


98.1 


540 


225 


5.5 


2.3 




27 


96.9 


99.4 


410 


215 


4.2 


2.1 




28 


98.8 


97.5 


621 


325 


6.3 


3.3 




29 


97,5 


94,4 


612 


290 


6.3 


3.1 




30 


99.4 


98,8 


685 


335 


6.9 


3.4 




32 


99,4 


100,0 


930 


548 


9.4 


5.5 


Average 




98.0 


97.8 


685 


355 


7,01 


3.6 


Poorest . 




95,1 


94,4 


930 


548 


8,9 


5.5 


Best.... 




100.0 


100.0 


410 


215 


4.2 


2.1 



86 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART U 



TABLE XXXIII 

Results of Initial and Final Check Tests. Room 5-6 F (JJnpracticed Room) 







PER CENT. OF 














ACCURACY 


TIME IN i 


SECONDS 


TIME-HAC 


:CURACY 


Grade 


No. 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 


Initial 


Final 




1 


96.9 


98.1 


945 


807 


9.8 


8.2 




2 


93.2 


98.1 


740 


642 


7.9 


6.5 




3 


100.0 


99.4 


1003 


912 


10.0 


9.2 




4 


98.8 


95.7 


1144 


827 


11.6 


8.6 




5 


91.3 


95.7 


1183 


1120 


13.0 


11.7 




6 


97.5 


97.5 


952 


960 


9.8 


9.9 


V 


7 
8 


96.3 
98.1 


96.3 
99.4 


1190 

772 


1118 
683 


12.4 
8.9 


11.6 




6.9 




9 


96.9 


99.4 


1250 


1273 


12.9 


12.8 




10 


96.9 


95.7 


820 


805 


8.5 


8.4 




11 


96.3 


100.0 


825 


875 


8.6 


8.8 




12 


99.4 


96.3 


845 


687 


8.5 


7.2 




13 


96.9 


96.9 


1006 


912 


10.4 


9.4 




14 


98.1 


95.7 


1054 


933 


10.8 


9.8 


Average 




96.9 


97.4 


989 


897 


10.2 


9.2 


Poorest. 




91.3 


95.7 


1250 


1273 


13.0 • 


12.8 


Best.... 




100.0 


100.0 


740 


642 


7.9 


6.5 










15 


100.0 


98.8 


706 


642 


7.1 


6.5 




16 


99.4 


98.1 


875 


703 


8.8 


7.8 




17 


99.4 


99.4 


505 


475 


5.1 


4.8 




18 


100.0 


100.0 


805 


623 


8.8 


6.2 




19 


95.7 


93.8 


937 


834 


9.8 


8.9 




20 


100.0 


99.4 


1125 


742 


11.2 


7.5 


VI 


21 

22 


98.8 
95.1 


87.7 
98.8 


1332 
1026 


1110 

877 


13.5 
10.8 


12.7 




8.9 




23 


96.3 


96.9 


695 


820 


7.2 


8.5 




24 


98.1 


95.1 


660 


496 


6.7 


5.2 




25 


97.5 


99.4 


828 


706 


8.5 


7.1 




26 


98.1 


98.8 


1200 


875 


9.4 


8.9 




27 


98.1 


98.8 


440 


380 


4.5 


3.9 


Average 




98.2 


97.3 


835 


714 


8.51 


7.4 


Poorest . 




93.2 


93.8 


1332 


1110 


13.5 


12.7 


Best.... 




100.0 


100.0 


440 


380 


4.5 


3.9 



Nature of the Improvement 
The improvement has been, of course, an improvement in speed, 
because the accuracy was already close to the upper limit at the begin- 
ning of practice. Many of the number combinations called for were 
already known, and the rest could readily be computed mentally, so 
that any inaccuracy here implies carelessness rather than lack of 
knowledge. The activities demanded were not wholly mental, for in 



PRACTICE-TEST IN MULTIPLICATION 87 

addition to the computation of the required result, in case it was not 
known, there was demanded the physical act of writing it down. 
Improvement in time, therefore, might take place along at least 
two lines; (1) a product once learned might be written at once, with- 
out the loss of time in calculation, and (2) there might be a gain of 
speed in writing the results upon the practice sheet. It is obvious that 
the larger amount of gain resulted from improvement in the first 
direction, though there were instances of a marked saving in time 
through the development of a more expeditious method of writing 
the results, as, for instance, that of writing the two-place products in 
the regular order of the tens' digit first, instead of writing the unit 
figure before the tens' figure. This change generally took place when 
the product had been learned so that the calculation of it was no 
longer necessary. Of the different practice groups, the 5th-grade 
class in the special room had the highest average per cent of accuracy 
at the beginning of the experiment, and retained it until the close. 
The special 6th-grade made no gain in this respect, but suffered a 
slight loss. This class, however, when measured by the single score of 
time divided by accuracy, shows by far the greatest improvement, 
owing to its remarkable increase in speed. It is worth noting that in this 
test, as in the great majority of the educational tests discussed in the 
preceding chapter, the average score (in time divided by accuracy) of 
the special 5th grade reaches that attained by the 6th-grade pupils of 
the control group, though considerably lower at the beginning. Two 
weeks' drill, therefore, has brought this special 5th-grade group, ivhich at 
the time of the experiment had done about six weeks of 6th-grade work, up 
to the level of a class which had been doing the regular 6th-grade work for 
seven months. 

By comparing the gains made in the practiced groups with those 
made by children of the same grades in the unpracticed room, the 
results of the drill are readily made apparent. It is interesting to 
note, in this connection, that the unpracticed room actually does 
show a respectable gain. This may be due to several factors. In the 
first place, learning occurred in connection with the first application 
of the test and some of the combinations learned were remembered. 
Again, familiarity with the method of the test had been acquired, 
which would result in a saving of time. In addition to these, the 
regular work of the schoolroom in arithmetic had afforded incidental 
practice in multiplication, and the two weeks of training might well 
have functioned in the results of the final test. 



88 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Practice and Individual Differences 
A study of the individual learning curves obtained in this multi- 
plication drill, as well as of the curves showing the daily room averages 
confirms the conclusion, laid down by so many investigators, that 
practice, so far from equalizing individual differences, tends to 
increase them. To the pupil with high initial ability, in the great 
majority of our cases, this drill has given opportunity to reach an even 
higher degree of superiority. Not much change of rank has taken 
place. In general, those who led at the initial test also led in the 
final. If the two grades of the special room are treated as one group, 
it will be seen that the highest three individuals in the initial test 
occupy their respective positions in the final test, with no change of 
rank at all. The correlation between pupils' ranks in the two tests, 
for the special room, figured by the "foot-rule" method is .63, which 
by the conversion table gives us a Pearson correlation of r = . 84.^ 

Our results then, to repeat what has been said above, are in com- 
plete accord with those of other investigators who have found high 
initial ability no barrier to profit by training, and practice in any 
given performance more efficient in case of those with high initial 
ability in the desired performance, granted only that the high initial 
ability does not represent a close approach to the upper limit already 
obtained by previous practice. To quote from Wells: 

"... A superior performance at the beginning of special 
practice is not necessarily, or even probably, attained at the 
sacrifice of prospects for further improvement. A high initial 
efficiency may carry with it as much or more prospect of improve- 
ment under special practice than a low one. It was not because 
the favored individual had had more of the general experience 
enabling him to meet the experimental situation better, but be- 
cause he possessed the native ability to profit more by such expe- 
rience, general and|special, past and future. Not practice, but 
practice ability, is responsible for the superior position of such an 
individual; and, in broader aspect, not education, but educability.^ 
^ For process of calculating correlation by the "foot-rule" method, and for conver- 
sion table, see Whipple's Manual, Part I, pp. 42-44. 

* Wells, F. L. The relation of practice to individual differences. American 
Journal of Psychology, 23 :75-88. 

Also see, Thorndike, E. L. The effect of practice in the case of a purely intel- 
lectual function. American Journal of Psychology, 18:374-384. 

Donovan, M. E. and Thorndike, E. L. Improvement in a practice experiment 
under school conditions. American Journal of Psychology, 24:426-428. 

For a complete treatment of the learning-curve, see Thorndike, E. L. Edticational 
Psychology, Volume II, The Psychology of Learning; and for the effect of practice upon 
individual differences see Volume III of the same work, Work and Fatigue and Indivi- 
dual Diferejices. 



CHAPTER VI 

RESULTS OF THE MENTAL TESTS 

In this chapter will be discussed the results of a few of the tests^ 
which were given to the pupils of the special room, as well as to those 
in the control groups. The tests treated here are more general in their 
nature than those which were described in Chapter IV, and, being 
psychological rather than educational, they show primarily differ- 
ences in native ability, rather than in ability which has been developed 
by training in some special line. 

Logical Memory 

Whipple's "Marble Statue test"^ is a test for 'logical,' or 'sub- 
stance' memory, or what is known as 'memory for ideas.' A simple 
version of the story of Pygmalion and Galatea is read to the subject, 
who has previously been warned to give close attention in order that 
he may be able to reproduce what he hears. The test is scored on the 
basis of the number of ideas satisfactorily reproduced, rather than 
upon an exact, verbatim reproduction of the passage as presented. 
The story is made up of 67 standard divisions, each one of which con- 
stitutes an 'idea.' The reproduction is scored by comparing it with 
the standard idea-divisions of the original passage. Table XXXIV 
shows the results of this test. Reproduction was begun immediately 
after the passage had been read, and the score is expressed as the 
number of ideas satisfactorily reproduced. 

This test was given in the experimental room on October 26, and 
in the other rooms on January 24, or three months later. Notwith- 
standing this handicap in time, the superiority of the selected group is 
clearly evident. As was the case in the majority of the educational 
tests, the 5th-grade class of the special room, in median score, exceeds 
the total group of 6th-grade pupils. 

^ For a fuller account of the mental tests, see G. M. Whipple, Classes for Gifted 
Children, 1919. 

^ Manual of Mental and Physical Tests, Pt. II. 

89 



90 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART U 



TABLE XXXIV 

Marhle Statue Test. Immediate Reproduction. Number of Ideas Reproduced 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 




Fifth Gradf 




Sixth Grade 


Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


17-18 




3 

4 
5 
5 
8 
6 
1 
4 
4 
4 
2 
2 

1 










1 
4 

2 
2 
2 
2 

1 


1 







1 

1 
3 
6 
2 
8 
4 
9 
7 
7 
2 
6 
1 

2 


1 





19-20 





21-22 





23-24 





25-26 





27-28 





29-30 


1 


31-32 


2 


33-34 


2 


35-36 





37-38 


1 


39-40 


3 


41-42 


4 


43 44 


1 


45-46 





47-48 





49-50 





51-52 


1 






Sum 


30.30 
30.79 
17-48 


49 

28.75 
29.39 
17-42 


15 

35.50 
35.40 

27-48 


33.10 
32.98 
18-51 


60 

31.50 
31.59 
18-51 


15 


Group : 
Median 


40.30 


Average 


38.53 


Range 


30-51 







Bonser's Reasoning Tests 
In order to compare ability in certain forms of reasoning, more 
particularly selective judgment, Bonser's Tests III, V, and VI were 
used. Those parts of Test III which were given consist of two sets of 
ten sentences each, with a significant word omitted from each to be 
filled in by the pupil; and two sets of ten sentences in each of which 
are placed, one above the other, two significant words, one of which 
would give an erroneous meaning to the sentence and is to be crossed 
out by the pupil so as to make the sentence read correctly (Test 
III, Aa, Ab, Ba and Bb). Bonser says that this test involves recogni- 
tion and selection on the basis of fitness to purpose as the dominant 
factor, and that the activity tested is that of accuracy and spon- 
taneity in recognizing resemblances between the known of experience 
and the unknown of new situations. Test V, A and B, consists of two 



RESULTS OF MENTAL TESTS 



91 



series each of ten reasons why some given statement is true. Some of 
these reasons are correct, others irrelevant or incorrect, and the pupil 
is to select the correct ones. Test VI contains two sets, of three series 
each of definitions for a given thing or term (some correct, others 
incorrect or irrelevant) from among which the pupil is to select those 
that are correct. In giving these tests, as well as in scoring them, 
Bonser's directions were observed precisely.^ The tests were given 
first in the special room, and the time-limit for each of the tests in the 
other rooms was fixed at the number of seconds which it took the first 
pupil in the special room to finish that test. The following table shows 
the amalgamated scores for all three of the tests, i.e., the scores made 
by each pupil in the different tests, combined into a single score by 

adding, 

TABLE XXXV 
Bonser's Reasoning Tests; III, V, and VI. Combined Scores 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 




] 


Fifth Grade 


( 


Sixth Grade 


Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


1-5 





1 
2 
5 
6 
2 
7 
4 
4 
3 
2 
3 
2 
2 
1 




1 







1 
3 
3 
2 
1 
2 

1 
1 


1 










1 
4 
11 
4 
2 
5 
8 
4 
4 
5 
2 


2 

1 






6-10 





11-15 





16-20 





21-25 





26-30 





31-35 


3 


36-40 





41-45 


1 


46-50 





51-55 


4 


56-60 


1 


61-65 


2 


66-70 





71-75 





76-80 


2 


81-85 


1 


86-90 





91-95 


1 


Sum 


35.64 
36.64 
5-91 


45 

30.30 
33.46 
5-91 


15 

43.50 

46.17 

27-76.5 


43.50 
40.28 
13-95 


53 

40.00 
35.02 
13-86 


15 


Group : 
Median 


55.00 


Average 

Range 


58.86 
31.5-95 



^ Bonser, F. G. The Reasoning Ability of Children of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth 
School Grades. Teachers College, Columbia University Contributions to Education, 
No. 37, pp. 3-18. 



92 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 



These tests were given in the special room on the 5th, 6th, and 7th 
of December, and in the regular rooms a month later. According to 
the results, the pupils of the special room were distinctly superior to 
the others in selective judgment, and it is once more the case that 
the special 5th grade excelled the score of the whole 6th-grade group. 

Equivalent Proverbs 

Another of the tests used was the "Equivalent Proverbs Test." 
This test was given in three parts, each consisting of a series of well- 
known English proverbs and a series of African or Arabian proverbs. 



TABLE XXXVI 

Equivalent Proverbs Test. Combined Scores 





NUMBER OF PUPILS 




Fifth Grade 


Sixth Grade 


Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


580-599 







1 
1 

3 


2 

3 
2 
3 
5 
1 
5 
7 
2 
2 
8 


















1 
1 
3 
3 
2 

2 
2 





1 
1 


1 




1 

2 
1 
2 

1 
4 
1 
6 
5 
11 
8 
3 
3 
2 





560-579 





420-559 





400-419 





380-399 





360-379 





340-359 





320-339 





300-319 





280-299 





260-279 





240-259 





220-239 





200-219 





180-199 





160-179 


2 


140-159 


1 


120-139 


1 


100-119 


1 


80-99 





60- 79 


7 


40- 59 


3 


20-39 









Sum 


145.0 

163.4 

419-40.5 


45 

156.0 
177.8 
419-60 


14 

132.4 

117.0 

190.2-40.5 


115.0 

135.6 

576-39.6 


52 

118.60 

148.75 

576-39.6 


15 


Group : 

Median 


72.9 


Average 


90.0 


Range 


177-41.7 







RESULTS OF MENTAL TESTS 93 

arranged in parallel columns. The task was to find for each English 
proverb the equivalent proverb in the other list. In some respects 
this test is similar to Bonser's reasoning tests, in that it may be said to 
test ability in seeing relationships in verbal expressions. Each of the 
three parts was given separately to all the rooms at practically the 
same time, and was scored by dividing the time in seconds required to 
finish it by the number of correct identifications. The three scores for 
each pupil in this manner were then added, to afford a single final 
score. Since each score by this method represents the time required 
for one correct solution, it will be remembered that the higher figures 
represent the lower scores. 

Because of the wide range over which these scores are scattered, 
and the irregularity of their distribution, there is for each grade a 
considerable difference between the median and the average. Each 
of the special grades, however, shows marked superiority over its 
control group, and the difference seems somewhat greater in case of 
the 6th grade. In that grade, however, two individuals in the control 
group succeeded in making better scores than were made in the 
selected group. 

Word-Building 

Whipple's "Word-building Test"* might have been considered 
among the language tests discussed in Chapter IV, for successful per- 
formance in this test is conditioned to some extent upon size and 
readiness of vocabulary. In addition, Whipple says that "it is one 
that calls for ingenuity and active attention; it might fairly be said to 
demand that ability to combine isolated fragments into a whole, which 
Ebbinghaus has declared to be the essence of intelligence and for the 
measurement of which he devised his well-known 'completion 
method.' " This test is given in two parts, by means of two blanks, 
one of which calls for the combining of words from the letters a, e, o, 
b, m, t; the other from the letters e, a, i, r, I, p. The aeobmt blank is 
given first, followed by the eairlp blank, and five minutes is allowed 
for each. The score of the individual's performance is the sum of the 
legitimate words formed from the two lists. This test was given to the 
experimental room on October 24, and to the other rooms about three 
months later. 

* Manual, Part II, pp. 274-283. 



94 



NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— FART II 



TABLE XXXVII 

Word-Building Test. Combined Scores of Both Lists 





NUMBER C 

1 


)F PUPILS 




] 


nfth Grade 




1^ 


)ixth Grade 




Score 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


Total 


Control 


Selected 


2-3 




1 
1 


1 
7 
5 
6 
4 
6 
5 
4 
2 
1 
1 
3 







1 
1 

1 
2 

1 
2 
1 
3 
2 












2 

2 
7 
5 
7 
7 
3 
10 
2 
6 
3 
1 
1 






4- 5 





6- 7 





8-9 





10-11 


1 


12-13 


1 


14-15 





16-17 





18-19 


2 


20-21 





22-23 


1 


24-25 


2 


26-27 


4 


28-29 


1 


30-31 





32-33 


1 


34-35 


1 


36-3? 


1 






Sum 


20.29 
19.50 

2-33 


47 

18.62 
19.06 
2-33 


14 

22.5 
21.0 
9-29 


22.40 
22.14 
9-37 


56 

21.57 
21.27 
9-34 


15 


Group : 
Median 


26.50 


Average 


24.70 


Range 


10-37 







With this test, as with the preceding one, the special 6th-grade 
class shows a somewhat larger difference in its favor than does the 
special 5th-grade. If we take into account the difference in time, it 
seems fair to say that the special 5th grade shows a median and an 
average score practically equal to that of the whole 6th grade; espe- 
cially so since the percentile curves of word-building published by 
Whipple show that, at the age of these pupils, the growth for three 
months in ability in this test, as measured by the median score, is 
approximately one word. When this correction is apphed to the 
median and average scores of the control groups, the superiority of the 
selected group is more clearly revealed. It is true, however, that four 
individuals in the 5th-grade control group made a higher score than 
was made by any member of the special class in the same grade. 



RESULTS OF MENTAL TESTS 95 

Summary 

The results of the tests described in this chapter go to show that 
bright children excel ordinary ones in such things as logical memory 
and selective judgment, as well as in performance in the school sub- 
jects, as was shown in Chapter IV. In other words, the differences 
between the top tenth of the children in the middle grades and the rest 
of the children in those grades, are differences which to a great extent 
depend upon heredity, rather than upon training. The same thing is 
indicated by the results of the practice test discussed in the preceding 
chapter, as well as by those of a great number of other mental tests 
which were given throughout the year, but which it has not been 
thought necessary to discuss, inasmuch as a complete description of 
them has been published elsewhere. The evidence of all the tests 
strongly suggests that the intellectual differences between bright and 
mediocre children are of such an amount that they practically may be 
considered qualitative as well. At any rate the results of the tests 
indicate that gifted children have mental powers which are sufficiently 
different from those of average children to make it probable that 
the pedagogy of gifted children must include a special adaptation of 
method to their peculiar needs. The nature of this adaptation will 
be made the subject of the next chapter. 



CHAPTER VII 

METHODS OF TEACHING AS ADAPTED TO THE 
INSTRUCTION OF GIFTED CHILDREN 

While we have a few accounts of the operation of special classes for 
gifted children, almost nothing has been said concerning the special 
pedagogy of such classes. It would seem that this phase of the work 
has so far received but little attention in comparison with that which 
has been given to plans for organization, suggestions for programs of 
study, and discussions of the special aims to be attained by segrega- 
ting the brighter pupils. Very much more, too, has been written about 
the results which have been obtained in such rooms than about the 
methods by which those results were secured. This chapter will be 
devoted to a discussion of such modifications of teaching-method as 
seem advisable in the conduct of a special room, or class, for children 
of better than normal ability. Its conclusions are based upon the 
results of plans which were definitely tried out in the experimental 
room, observation of three other special rooms for superior children, 
conferences with a few teachers of such rooms, and correspondence 
with supervising officers and teachers having such rooms in charge. 

Of the few studies of this particular problem which are available, 
one grew out of the work of the special room established in Cin- 
cinnati in 1910,^ and was reported by Miss Flora Unrich, who had the 
room in her care. Miss Unrich says in her article that soon after 
entering upon her work with these pupils she took an inventory of 
their mental equipments and characteristics, their strengths and 
their weaknesses, and concluded that the qualities which she needed 
to implant in them were self-control, self -helpfulness (adaptability), 
concentration, and continuity. She attempted, then, to develop 
self-helpfulness by doing nothing for a child which he could do for 
himself; and to develop accuracy, thoroughness, and continuity by 

^ See Chapter II. 

96 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 97 

not allowing her pupils to do anything in a desultory way, or to leave 
anything unfinished. For training in concentration she gave them 
practice in doing work while recitations were going on. In conse- 
quence of this treatment, as she says, her pupils developed in power 
to concentrate, to select (form judgments), and to examine them- 
selves, as well as in will to finish what they had once begun. In order 
that these pupils might have no opportunity to form habits of indo- 
lence, whenever any assigned task had proved too easy they were at 
once provided with additional material difficult enough to enlist a 
deeper interest and call out greater efforts. Of the 32 pupils who 
were enrolled in this room, 25 accomplished two years of work during 
the year it was in session. This gain, says Miss Unrich, was made 
possible "by avoiding all mechanical teaching, appealing to the 
reason and judgment of the pupils, reducing all drill to a minimum, 
studying carefully in advance the entire year's course, and selecting 
kindred facts and subjects. This made much correlation possible, 
and prevented dissipation and side-tracking of the pupils' energies, 
by presenting such material when it could be effectively assimilated." 
Other features which were stressed are free and independent expres- 
sion, power of initiative, careful self-censorship, conscientious effort, 
confidence placed in the pupils and understood by them to be met in 
only one way, individualization of instruction, and adjustment of the 
work to individual needs. ^ 

An interesting article by Dr. Martha Adler describes an attempt 
to adapt methods of instruction to bright pupils which was made in 
Public School 77, New York City. The premise underlying the exper- 
iment was that "pupils of advanced intelligence should not only make 
more rapid progress than those of younger mental age, but that 
methods of instruction should be adapted to mental maturity." 
Seventy Ist-grade boys, about to begin the second half of the 1st- 
grade work, were tested by Goddard's 1911 Revision of the Binet 
Scale. The 35 boys who tested highest were placed in Class A, or the 
advanced section; and the others were assigned to Class B, the regular 
section. In describing the work of these two sections. Dr. Adler 
says: 

^ Unrich, Flora. A year's work in a "superior" class. Psychological Clinic, 
5: January, 1912, 245-250. 



98 • NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

"In each class progress was made at a rate commensurate 
with the abilities of the children. In Class A, particular super- 
vision was given to the instruction in reading and in the writing 
of phonetic elements leading to spelling, the purpose being to 
replace, at an early stage, low-grade by high-grade habits. 
Audible lip-preparation of new reading-matter and pointing to 
the words with the fingeTS are usually permitted with young 
pupils. Silent reading, with eye-recognition of the words was 
substituted at an early stage. Rapid reading and thought- 
getting were secured by various devices, and a maturity in 
development was noted which is not customary with young 
pupils. The synthetic method of writing phonograms usually 
precedes the analytic resolution into the letter elements by a 
considerable period. In the present instance, it was possible 
to combine these methods at a much earlier time than is cus- 
tomary. In the work in arithmetic it was noted that a much 
shorter period was needed by the pupils for objective work, 
and it was not a difficult task for them to acquire the more 
advanced work." 

In the same school, out of a class of eighty-nine 4th-grade boys were 
selected the 36 who made the best showing in a selected list of mental 
tests. These were placed in a special section and their teacher was 
told to advance at a rate commensurate with their abilities. Concern- 
ing the methods used in this advanced section, the author of the 
study says: 

"In the advanced section special effort was made to engender 
the higher habits of independent study; the selection of the 
main thought of a paragraph or page, the organization of minor 
details around larger topics, and the cultivation of initiative in 
the use of a textbook and other aids to study were particularly 
emphasized. Combining the work of the latter half of the 
fourth grade with that of the first half of the fifth was success- 
fully done by the teacher."^ 

A teacher in one of the 'preparatory centers' of Baltimore in speak- 
ing of the methods used in her classes and in the school in general, says 
that one of the chief aims is that the pupils develop habits of prompt- 
ness and concentration and a general ideal of self-reliance, and that 
concentrated attention for a short time makes for rapid progress. 
Certain specific helps are provided in teaching children how to study, 

^ Adler, Martha. Mental tests used as a basis for the classification of school 
children. Jour, of Educ. Psych., 5: January, 1914, 22-28. 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 99 

for example, study periods in school, even when not assigned by the 
schedule, that teachers may see which children lack power of concen- 
tration and give helpful suggestions to them. The pupils are 
encouraged to ask questions about their individual difficulties only 
after they have made a real effort to solve them, and spontaneous 
efifort at accomplishment and comprehension is looked upon as much 
more valuable than what is done at the teacher's detailed direction.* 
With this reference to the opinions expressed in educational litera- 
ture as an introduction, we may undertake a more detailed considera- 
tion of the adaptation of method to the distinctive needs of supernor- 
mal children. So closely, however, is the question of method 
connected with that of the characteristics of the teacher that we are 
perhaps justified in delaying the main issue for a moment in order to 
make way for some consideration of the qualities which should be 
sought for in choosing a teacher for a special room of gifted children. 

The Teacher 

It is but expressing a truism to say that the most retarded pupils 
are those who are naturally brightest. Almost any teacher who is 
possessed of the requisite amount of patience can develop a dull 
pupil to a level relatively near the limit of his ability, but teachers who 
do not at times retard the brightest members of their classes are rare. 
Efficient teaching is absolutely necessary if the ablest pupils are to 
make full use of their powers. Again, any marked departure from 
the usual program is likely to fail unless the teacher or other authority 
who has it in charge is forceful and intelligent, and able to command 
the respect, not only of the pupils but also of the patronizing com- 
munity in general; and under present conditions a special room for 
gifted children represents such a departure. 

Efficiency in teaching depends upon broad scholarship, adequate 
preparation, and strong personality, all of which are of prime impor- 
tance for the kind of work which we are considering. The teacher, 
in order to be successful in instructing very bright children, must be 
well-grounded in educational theory and professional knowledge. 
She must know how to adapt her instruction to the varying needs of 

* Patterson, M. Rose. A preparatory center in Baltimore; William Rhinehart 
School No. 52. Atlantic Educ. Jour., 12: January, 1917, 234-238. 



100 ^•-— NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

her pupils. She must be able to work out a definite lesson plan, in 
order that both she and the pupils may have an exact understanding 
of just what is to be done, and waste no time in aimless floundering. 
She must have the ability to discern relative values and to lift 
important topics into prominence from the mass of details. No 
matter how much experience she may have had, she must still preserve 
the experimental attitude and be capable of noticing wherein her 
methods must differ from those which she would use under ordinary 
circumstances; and must remember that many of the conventional 
ideas of method and technique that obtain in ordinary teaching do 
not apply to gifted children in a special room, especially since their 
initiative is so marked. In a word, she must have so profited by 
professional training as to make it possible for her to recognize the 
special pedagogical and psychological problems connected with her 
work. 

' ' The wealth of associations which bright children possess, and their 
quickness in forming others, are features which often make them a 
source of real difficulty in ordinary schoolrooms and for ordinary 
teachers. The teacher in the special room for such children, if she is 
to command the respect of her pupils or cause them to work up to the 
limit of their powers, must have had a broad general training and a 
wide range of information. So far as the children in our experimental 
room were concerned, they did a great deal of outside reading, much of 
which was more mature in character than the reading of ordinary 
children of the same age. This resulted in the asking of a great many 
questions, which covered a broad field. Of course, it is hardly possible 
that even the best-informed teacher would be able to dispose of all 
the questions brought to her by a score of very bright children, but 
she should be able to answer a reasonable number of them and should 
know where to look for information to answer most of the remainder. 
No less important is the matter of personality. To choose a 
teacher for capable children on the basis of scholarship alone, placing 
them in charge of a normal-school or college graduate of weak per- 
sonality and slender teaching resources is to invite disaster. In order 
to develop the powers of gifted children to their fullest capacity, 
the teacher of those children must possess an individuality strong 
enough to challenge those powers. Energy and enthusiasm on the 
part of the teacher are needed in any schoolroom, but nowhere are 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 101 

they so much needed as in the education of bright children. A lack of 
them makes the development of self-reliance, industry, and initiative 
among the pupils almost an impossibility. 

The qualities which have been discussed above are, it must be 
admitted, precisely those qualities which make for good teaching in 
any room, special or regular. So far as these factors go, none of them 
is the exclusive property of the teacher of capable pupils. The point 
that is made here, however, is that gifted children require an especially 
strong teacher — one who ranks high in scholarship, preparation, and 
personality — and that, whereas a teacher of lower rank in any of these 
particulars might do very well in an ordinary room, she would not be 
capable of securing adequate results in a room such as that upon 
which this study is based. 

Method 

What is true of the teacher is also true of method of the special 
room. None of the methods which are to be described could be said 
at all times to be out of place in an ordinary schoolroom; but it is true 
that some methods, more than others, must characterize the instruc- 
tion of supernormal children, while other methods must receive more 
emphasis than would be placed upon them in teaching ordinary chil- 
dren in regular rooms. 

The most common modification of method which was reported 
in my correspondence with supervising ofiicers and teachers of special 
rooms for gifted children, is a reduction in the amount of drill. To the 
question on this point answers were secured from 20 persons actually 
engaged in supervising, or giving instruction to, such rooms or 
classes. In all but four instances there was reported a marked 
decrease in the amount and relative importance of drill-work, as 
compared with ordinary schoolroom procedure. Two of these four 
exceptions came from special teachers of arithmetic, one from a 
teacher of grammar, and one from a room-teacher giving instruction 
in all the common branches. Eleven teachers reported a lessening 
of drill in all subjects; history received specific mention three times in 
this connection; geography, spelling, and arithmetic were each 
mentioned twice; bookkeeping once, and "memory- work" once. The 
most common estimate of the amount of this decrease was 50 per cent. 
A few put it at one third or one fourth, but the typical answer was "50 
per cent in all subjects." One departmental teacher of arithmetic, 



102 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

who teaches both a bright group and an average group, reported 
that for some time she had been making a careful study of this 
particular question, and had been keeping a record of the drill-time in 
each of the two groups. As a result, she found that the time spent in 
drill with the bright class was just 48 per cent of that in the ordinary 
class. 

A priori, since gifted children grasp principles and concepts more 
quickly than ordinary children do, not so much drill is necessary in 
their education as in that of children of ordinary ability. While 
gifted children must have a certain amount of drill in the skill sub- 
jects, care must be taken that they are not required to drudge through 
long lists of grammatical or arithmetical exercises in order to 'fasten' 
principles which are already well understood and known by them. 
The very fact that the bright child is quicker to see things than other 
children are, goes to indicate that he needs less drill than they do. 
Experimental evidence is at hand to show that practice increases 
differences in performance (see Chapter V), and it is a corollary to 
this that practice is more efl&cient in the case of able children, and 
hence less of it is needed to attain any set standard. 

One of the teachers who had charge of a 5th-grade class from 
which a number of the brightest pupils had been selected for the 
experimental room, and who kept the same class as a 6th grade the 
next year, remarked to the author that the removal of these pupils 
had made much more drill necessary in her room. Similar opinions 
were expressed by the other 5th-grade and 6th-grade teachers whose 
best pupils had been transferred to the special room. Obviously this 
indicates that under ordinary circumstances teachers are misled by 
the performance of bright pupils and give less drill than ordinary chil- 
dren need ; or, if they spend time for the drill which is needed by aver- 
age and dull children they waste the bright pupils' time. All in all, 
the evidence goes to show that the practice of greatly reducing the 
amount of drill, which is shown above to obtain quite generally in the 
instruction of gifted children, is readily justified. 

Formal review is only another form of drill, and what has been said 
in the discussion of drill will apply to review also. In the ordinary 
schoolroom it quite often happens that the teacher will resort to a 
period of drill, or to a formal review, simply for the purpose of filling 
up time which otherwise she would not know what to do with. The 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 103 

author's experience in observing, and teaching in, the special room 
convinced him that for such children the most efficient kind of drill is a 
short and very intensive one, and that there should be rather frequent 
reviews of that character, instead of less frequent, more formal, and 
longer ones. In such a room neither drill nor review should be given 
unless at a suitable time, for a clearly understood reason, and after 
careful planning, and never for the purpose of simply using up time; 
and as less drill is necessary for gifted children, so also is less review 
needful. 

Aside from decreasing the amount of review and drill, the most fre- 
quently reported change in method is a lessened amount of explanation, 
including lessened attention to detail in the development of a new 
topic. This was mentioned as a leading feature in the adaptation of 
method by 12 out of 21 persons from whom information was obtained. 
The following is a typical statement: "Explanation doesn't have to be 
entered into so minutely, or have to be repeated as with ordinary 
pupils. They grasped so much more quickly that time was saved 
thereby." Said another: "They get it at one 'exposure.' " One 
teacher estimated that bright pupils require from a third to a half the 
amount of explanation necessary in teaching ordinary ones, and 
another expressed the figure as 55 per cent. 

Since one of the chief purposes in the establishment of special rooms 
for gifted children is that they be given the opportunity to work as 
diligently as ordinary children have to work to get their tasks accom- 
plished, it will be readily seen that too much explanation on the part of 
the teacher would defeat one of the chief aims of such a room. Again, 
if the program of the special room involves a saving in time, economy 
in teaching must be featured, as well as economy in learning. Any 
time, then, which is spent by the teacher in explaining what is already 
perfectly known by the pupils or in considering details which are of no 
importance or which could easily be worked out by the pupils them- 
selves, contributes to the defeat of another important aim. 

A common form of over-explanation consists in giving too much 
attention to illustration. The danger of this, even in an ordinary room, 
has been so well pointed out by Professor Adams that I cannot forbear 
quoting the following paragraph from one of his works,^ especially 
since it so well applies to the teaching of bright children: 

' Adams, J. Exposition and Illustration in Teaching, p. 395. 



104 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

". . . There is the danger of over-illustration. Some 
teachers seem to regard it as an established principle that every 
point that arises must be illustrated, whether it offers any dif- 
ficulty or not. What is perfectly clear already needs no illus- 
tration as a matter of exposition. A straightforward statement 
of fact dealing with elements that come well within the pupil's 
range should not be illustrated, so long as the teacher's purpose 
at the time is only. to get the pupil to understand. Indeed, it is 
possible that by illustrating what requires no illustration the 
teacher may cause needless difficulties to arise, especially in the 
minds of the more eager and attentive pupils. Accustomed to 
attach a meaning to all that the teacher says, such pupils are 
apt to think that since he makes so much of the point he is 
laboring, there must be something in it which they do not yet 
perceive, and they may grope about for a meaning that is not 
there." 

A mistake which is very likely to be made by the teacher who is 
placed in charge of a room of gifted pupils for the first time, is to forget 
the relative importance of details. This often occurs because the teach- 
er, finding her pupils able to assimilate a great variety of facts in a 
comparatively short space of time and seeing great possibilities in the 
direction of thoroughness, is carried away by that as an ideal, and in 
her enthusiasm expects her pupils to master every detail which she 
places before them or which is found in their textbooks, without 
regard to the relative value of those details. This results in a waste of 
time and a dissipation of energy. Successful teaching in a special 
room for bright children must take into account the relative impor- 
tance of the different topics and make a proportionate division of 
time. Instead of an encyclopedic treatment of the content subjects, 
there should be an intensive study of the main topics, supported by 
many of the details as secondary. In mastering the main topics, 
bright students will acquire most of the important details spontan- 
eously, but the teacher must be able to distinguish between first-rate 
and tenth-rate facts in making her assignments and drawing up her 
lesson-plans. 

Another prominent feature of method as adapted to gifted chil- 
dren, is provision for the development of initiative, self-reliance, and free 
expression. These characteristics, of course, have their place in the 
ordinary schoolroom, but it is in a room of the type which we are 
describing that they are capable of their fullest development and must 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 105 

receive the greatest emphasis. Many of the teachers with whom I 
have corresponded have mentioned the use of these traits, and some 
have furnished me with concrete examples of how they have been 
enabled to develop a spirit of self-reliance in their pupils and to make 
it contribute to the work of the school. Thus one says: "The children 
are required to get information for themselves through silent reading 
more than ordinary children of this grade (4b), and emphasis is placed 
upon their ability to discuss what they have read." Another says: 
"The children take more initiative. They use the material we have at 
hand more freely." Another: "Far less explaining is necessary, for 
these children are able to help themselves and they often work out new 
subjects in grammar and arithmetic. This is the most successful 
side of my work," 

The following paragraph is quoted from the letter of a teacher of a 
special room for bright children in the Bigelow School, of Boston. 

"In presenting a subject I have been able to dispense with 
detailed explanations which I have found necessary in regular 
grade work. The children are quick to grasp a new idea, and to 
apply previously taught principles. Also the children do more, 
and I less, of the work than is possible in a regular grade. For 
instance, in the matter of history — after the children have been 
trained how to study, I assign a subject. The child studies the 
subject as a whole, selects what to him are the essentials, and 
presents them to the class. He must have reasons for his 
selection, and knowledge enough to answer any question. 
Dependence on self is the thing we strive to cultivate."^ 

One of the best examples of the development of initiative on the 
part of school children that has come under the author's immediate 
observation was in the "opportunity class" under the care of Miss 
Jessie B. Marshall, of the Louisville, Kentucky, Normal School. This 
class, which has been described in an earlier part of this study, ^ was 
composed of very bright children from the fourth grade. In a geogra- 
phy lesson upon the hard-wood lumber industry of Kentucky, one of 
the boys took a pointer, went to the map, and gave a very well- 
planned and coherent discussion of the hard-wood timber region of 
Kentucky, the different varieties of trees found there, and the 

« Letter from Miss S. H. Lynch, Bigelow School, Boston. 
^ See Chapter II. 



106 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK—FART II 

methods of putting the lumber upon the market. Opportunity was 
given to the class to ask him questions, most of which were promptly- 
answered. At the conclusion of his discussion, he took charge of the 
class, asking them questions connected with the day's lesson, so that 
to all intents and purposes he taught that lesson to his fellow-pupils. 
The same method was used in an arithmetic class, where another boy, 
who had been previously appointed for that purpose, dictated original 
problems to the class, oversaw their solution, corrected the mistakes, 
and gave help to such members of the class as seemed to be in need 
of it. 

These three things — lessened drill, lessened explanation, and aug- 
mented initiative — according to the reports which I have received, are 
the most prominent features of method as adapted to the peculiar 
situation of a special room for gifted children. In addition to these 
there are at least two other important principles which have been 
mentioned by a few teachers, and which have been made use of in our 
own experimental room. 

The first of these, for lack of a better name, I shall call the "princi- 
ple of application,''^ meaning by that the endeavor to encourage the 
pupils in all possible ways to make use of the knowledge already 
acquired by them, in the acquisition of more knowledge. In my 
experience in teaching these children, I found the step of 'application' 
following the development of a principle, a very easy one for them to 
make, and they were encouraged to apply each principle to as wide a 
field as possible. When it could be done, arithmetical principles were 
taught as closely as possible in connection with their applications. To 
illustrate, in the textbook which was used in arithmetic in the 5th 
grade, cancellation was treated as a separate topic, having a section 
devoted to an explanation of the principle involved and a list of prob- 
lems for drill. But before this section of the textbook had been 
reached, opportunity was seen for the introduction of cancellation, 
and it was explained to the class, somewhat casually at first, as a 
method of saving time in connection with a certain problem. This 
process was repeated, until after the class had seen the method used a 
few times they were perfectly able to use it for themselves, and conse- 
quently it was possible to omit almost all of the section of the textbook 
which was devoted to that subject. To make sure that the children 
are making use of the knowledge which they have, the teacher should 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 107 

allow the pupils to tell what they know about the subject under dis- 
cussion, even if they go into details which are in advance of the lesson 
for the day. The conventional treatment of the child who "goes 
ahead of the lesson" in his recitation is to restrain him. It has been 
our experience, however, that much advantage is secured by allowing 
children to anticipate advance matter in this way. It prevents waste 
of time later in teaching the children what they already know, and it 
gives the teacher opportunity to discover what connections already 
formed in the child's mind are available as means of approach to new 
material. 

Another feature of the instruction in the experimental room has 
been the conscious effort to teach as much as possible by principles 
instead of by more or less detached facts. For instance, the 5th-grade 
textbook in geography treated the difference in rainfall on the sides of 
the Coast Ranges of the western United States by simply mentioning 
the fact, without explaining the principle of the loss of moisture dur- 
ing the passage of clouds from the sea over a mountain range. This 
principle was, however, developed by the class, so that a few weeks 
later, when the geography of the Amazon valley was being studied, the 
class was able to deduce the direction of the prevailing winds from the 
text's simple statement of the difference in rainfall on the sides of the 
Andes. Similar methods were used in physiology, and, indeed, 
wherever possible. 

In addition to what has already been said concerning special 
adaptations of method in the experimental room, a few other features 
may be mentioned. There was a persistent attempt to take into 
account the relative importance of the different topics and portions 
of subject matter and to make a corresponding distribution of time 
and emphasis among them. Perhaps the greatest saving of time has 
been effected by the quickness with which the children learn, which 
has made it possible to dispense with the long explanations that would 
otherwise be necessary. There was a persistent attempt, therefore, to 
get at the root of the matter as quickly as possible, without wasting 
any time in needless explanation. When it was found, as it often was, 
that the pupils were already perfectly famihar with a principle for 
whose development the course of study or the textbook provided an 
extended amount of formal drill, the drill was correspondingly 



108 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART 11 

shortened. Again, it was often discovered that the children already 
knew enough about an advance topic to render unnecessary any 
detailed development of it. 

As nearly as we could estimate, the amount of drill was by these 
methods lessened about 50 per cent in all subjects except formal 
grammar, where the reduction was about 30 per cent. In place of 
having all the pupils solve all the problems given to illustrate each 
topic in arithmetic, approximately a third of them were omitted. 
Much use was made of the practice of having one pupil work an 
example at the board where it would command the concentrated 
attention of the class. Many original problems were set and solved 
by the pupils; and very often, in order to provide problems difficult 
enough to call forth real effort, they were assigned from textbooks of 
a grade higher than the one in use. In particular more "thought 
problems" were given. 

In geography and history, the reviews by questions furnished in 
the book were frequently replaced by reports given by members of the 
class upon supplementary readings covering the same ground. The 
principle of application was also often made use of in review in differ- 
ent subjects, and was so used whenever it seemed advisable, whether 
at the beginning or at the close of a lesson or during its development. 
In reviewing history in the 6th grade, each child gave a report worked 
out by himself, on two separate periods. These reports were well- 
developed; the manner of presenting the facts were in most cases very 
good, and original comments and comparisons were made. 

The teacher found it possible to correlate lessons to a much greater 
degree than in an ordinary room, and it was also possible to do more 
supplementary work. Outlines of lessons were frequently worked out 
by the pupils. Sometimes this was done in advance by pupils 
appointed for the purpose, and their outlines then used before the 
class as the basis of the assignment. Much less testing was necessary 
in developing a lesson with these children than would have been 
required with ordinary ones, and our selected pupils were easily led to 
develop topics by wholes. Since it was possible for the teacher to find 
many more points of contact with the interests of these children, it 
was much easier for her to make the work concrete and real. She did 
not find it nearly so difficult to stimulate their interest as to keep i* 
within due bounds. 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 109 

Discipline 

Closely connected with methods of teaching is the question of dis- 
cipline. I have answers from twelve teachers of bright children to the 
question: "Does the instruction of bright children present any pecu- 
liar problems of discipline?" The practically unanimous testimony of 
these teachers is to the effect that, far from presenting any problem, 
discipline in the gifted room need hardly be considered. One teacher 
says that bright children must be kept very busy, and are frequently 
inattentive because they already know what is being explained. 
Another says that the only difficulty in this respect is a tendency to 
interrupt one another in discussion, and that this is probably due to 
their interest in the subject. Some typical answers are quoted: "It 
is the most orderly school I have ever taught." "We have no trouble 
with regularity of attendance, punctuality, or discipline. We try very 
hard to make our class an inspiration to the school." "I never had 
better order and it is the same whether I am in or out of the room. I 
feel sure better discipline in all schools could be secured if pupils were 
divided according to their ability." Our experience with our own 
group of bright children was quite in line with this testimony, for at 
no time did the question of discipline need any consideration. 
Although one of the 6th-grade boys had been a source of trouble 
during the previous year, after he was transferred to the special room 
his conduct was uniformly good. While this change may have been 
due to other causes, rather than to his being placed in the special 
room, the fact is not without significance. An exactly similar case was 
reported to me from the class in the Louisville Normal School, and I 
am very strongly led to believe that the conduct in school of a boy 
who is both bright and mischievous would be greatly improved by 
putting him into a special room where he might have opportunity to 
exercise his powers and to form habits of industry and attention. 

Because it is argued by some that the segregation of bright chil- 
dren in special rooms tends to develop priggishness, clannishness, ego- 
tism, and vanity, and because the possession of such undesirable 
characteristics by bright children would greatly modify the teacher's 
method of dealing with them, information was sought as to whether 
bright children possess these traits in any inordinate degree, and 
whether there is any noticeable tendency toward their development 
among those who have been placed in special rooms. Opinions upon 



110 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

these points were secured from ten teachers of these rooms. Eight of 
them report that their pupils are not snobbish and priggish, and that 
segregation has not developed undemocratic attitudes or sentiments. 
Two say that in their classes the children do exhibit these egotistic 
traits; one that she notices them "in a marked degree." Both these 
teachers taught the same group of children, however, one as a special 
teacher of history, the other of geography, in a school under depart- 
mental organization. An interesting paragraph from one of the letters 
in answer to this question is quoted: 

"I feel sure that egotism and priggishness are not developed, 
but only a proper amount of personal pride to do well. They 
are just ordinary, healthy children, and are just like normal 
children, with perhaps the exception of their fondness for read- 
ing. I notice in the playground they enjoy each other's com- 
pany, but they are not clannish about it."^ 

Terman secured extensive information concerning 31 very bright 
children from their teachers. Twenty-two of these children were 
reported as not spoiled or vain, five as spoiled, and two as somewhat 
spoiled. No statement was made about the remaining two. As a 
result of his inquiry, Terman says: 

"According to testimony of their teachers; such children are 
fully as likely to be healthy as average children; their ability is 
far more often general than special; they are studious above the 
average; really serious moral faults are not common among 
them; they are nearly always socially adaptable; are sought 
often as playmates and companions; they are leaders far oftener, 
than other children; and notwithstanding their many really 
superior qualities, they are seldom vain or spoiled."^ 

So far as the pupils in our room at Urbana were concerned, in gen- 
eral they presented the appearance of ordinary children and had the 
same social characteristics, so that the atmosphere of the room was 
entirely normal. One or two mild cases of egotism were noted, but 
these could be explained by conditions at home and had been devel- 
oped before the children entered the experimental room. So far as our 

^ Letter from Miss Helen M. Richardson, George Putnam School, Boston. 
^ Terman, L. M. Mental hygiene of exceptional children. Pedagogical Seminary, 
22:529-537. 



METHODS ADAPTED TO GIFTED CHILDREN 1 1 1 

experience goes, it agrees with the burden of evidence that bright chil- 
dren are not made vain or conceited by placing them in a room 
organized especially to meet their peculiar needs. It is perfectly legi- 
timate for able children to feel an honest pride in their achievements, 
and there is actually less chance for them to acquire a feeling of super- 
iority in a room in which they are thrown into competition with their 
equals, than in an ordinary room where they stand out as clearly 
superior to their schoolmates. 

Summary 

In this chapter we have examined the distinctive features of that 
special method of instruction to which gifted pupils are entitled, on 
the basis of the results of the mental and educational tests which have 
previously been described. 

It has been shown that for a special room for bright children is 
demanded an exceptionally able teacher — one who possesses broad 
scholarship, adequate professional preparation, and a strong and 
commanding personality. 

According to the testimony of those who are engaged in the actual 
work of instruction in such rooms, the chief modifications of method 
which are being made use of in practice are the lessening of drill, the 
lessening in amount and detail of explanation, and greater provision 
for initiative on the part of the pupils. Other important features are 
the provision of opportunities for the pupils to make use of the knowl- 
edge which they have already gained, and the emphasizing of broad, 
underlying principles rather than more or less unrelated facts. The 
difference in importance of the various topics and portions of subject 
matter demands a corresponding difference in amount of time 
devoted to them and in emphasis placed upon them. 

There are no peculiar problems of discipline connected with the 
administration of a special room for gifted children, nor do the pupils 
of^such rooms exhibit any inordinate amount of clannishness, prig- 
gishness, vanity, or egotism. 



CHAPTER VIII 
GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

The experimental part of this study has demonstrated that chil- 
dren representing the top tenth of the school population of the middle 
grades, on a proper basis of selection, are able to accomplish two years 
of the ordinary school work of those grades in one year, under a 
mediocre teacher and with average conditions of supervision and 
equipment, without any undue strain or any depreciation in the 
quality of their work when measured by the standard educational 
scales and tests as well as by the methods ordinarily used in the 
school. It has also been shown that gifted children excel in regularity 
of attendance, and that their segregation in a special room practically 
eliminates the problem of discipline and does not tend to develop in 
them egotism, vanity, clannishness, or priggishness. The results of 
the practice test described in the text confirm the opinion of previous 
investigators that practice, so far from decreasing individual differ- 
ences, tends, on the contrary, to increase them. Tests in the funda- 
mental subjects of the school course have quite uniformly shown that 
the children in the experimental room in the Leal School, taken as a 
group, have an ability equal to that of ordinary children a year older 
than they, and the same advancement was shown in the results of the 
mental tests. All the evidence at hand points to the fact that the 
mental differences between superior and average children are of such 
a nature that in their instruction a special adaptation of method is 
necessary, the leading features of which have just been indicated. 

In summarizing the more specific details of our study, it is desir- 
able to offer certain definite suggestions concerning the organization 
and conduct of special rooms for gifted children. These recommenda- 
tions are offered upon the basis of the author's observation of the 
work of the experimental room throughout the year, upon the results 
of the educational and psychological tests which were applied by the 

112 



GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDA TIONS 1 13 

Other investigators, and upon present practice in rooms of the same 
kind as ascertained by correspondence with teachers and school 
officials in charge of them. 

Recommendations 

1. The enrollment of a special room for gifted pupils should represent 
a selection of approximately the top ten per cent of the ordinary school 
population in the grades which are to he represented. 

To put this statement into terms of the intelligence quotient; 
enrollment in the special room should be limited to children who 
possess an intelligence quotient of at least 115. In practice this would 
mean the segregation of approximately the top tenth. 

2. Health should be an important factor in the selection of the pupils. 
While, as has been shown, the pupils of our own room were under 

no undue strain and suffered no impairment of health, it may readily 
be seen that the purposes for which a special room is organized, and 
the methods by which those purposes are attained, are such as to 
render it inadvisable for highly nervous or sickly children to be 
included in its membership. This consideration was, of course, taken 
into account by those who selected our pupils, so that the childrenln 
the experimental room represented at least average conditions of 
health and physique. 

3. The method of selecting gifted pupils should be by mental tests, 
not by teachers^ estimates of the pupils' ability or estimates by school 
administrators from school marks. 

An examination of the tables of results of the mental tests which 
have been described in Chapter VI will show that a few individuals 
consistently made low scores. These same individuals made low 
scores in the educational tests, and, likewise, if the selection had been 
made on the basis of the possession of an intelligence quotient of at 
least 115, instead of on the opinion of the school authorities, they are 
just the ones that would have not been admitted to the special class. 
It is the presence of these pupils that in large part accounts for the 
wide range of scores that our selected group shows in the various 
tables. It often happens that a certain superficial glibness passes for 
intelligence to such an extent that a teacher is readily deceived, or that 
a good memory conceals the lack of ability to reason. These, or other, 
factors may creep in to warp a teacher's judgment of the abilities of 



114 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

any particular pupil, with the result that when the selection is made 
for a special class on the basis of a teacher's opinion, whether 
expressed in class marks or otherwise, it may readily happen, as it did 
in this instance, that some pupils are selected who, although they 
have succeeded in obtaining high marks in their school work when 
proceeding at the usual rate, are able only with difficulty to keep up 
with the natural pace of those who are really mentally fit for segrega- 
tion as superior pupils. Mental tests, on the other hand, do furnish 
an impersonal and scientific method of selection, which takes into 
account only intellectual ability.^ 

4. The teacher of a special room for gifted children must possess a 
large fund of general information. 

Broad general information is necessary in order to meet with the 
wide range of questions which are the result of the wealth of associa- 
tions which bright children possess and the extended field of their 
interests, as well as to make use of points of contact which would not 
be available in the instruction of ordinary children and which obvious- 
ly ought to be capitalized. 

5. The teacher must have had adequate foundation in the theory and 
practice of education. 

This is essential in order that economy in teaching and in learning 
be brought about through definite plans of work, and through the 
ability on the part of the teacher to understand and carry out those 
special adaptations of method which are suited to the education of 
gifted children. 

6. The teacher must be characterized hy energy, enthusiasm, and an 
inspiring personality. 

In order to develop in these children the necessary habits of self- 
reliance, industry, and initiative, the teacher, on her part, must 
exhibit energy and enthusiasm, and must have a personality such as 
to inspire her pupils to put forth their best efforts and to challenge 
them to summon all their powers. 

7. The teacher in charge of a special room should be carried along 
with it in its advancement, and should remain with it as long as it retains 
its organization. 

1 Professor Whipple has recently placed on the market a special pamphlet of 
group tests for the selection of gifted children, particularly in the 4th, 5th and 6th 
grades. 



GENERAL SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 115 

This arrangement makes for economy of time, in that it becomes 
unnecessary for the pupils, at the beginning of each year, to adjust 
themselves to the characteristics, methods, and requirements of a 
new teacher; nor is any time lost by the teacher in making the 
acquaintance of a new set of pupils. It also permits greater freedom 
in the organization of subject matter from year to year in the course. 

8. The special room should be equipped with movable desks, and 
should be well supplied with maps, charts, globes, pictures, and other 
aids to study. 

The use of movable desks gives much more freedom of movement 
to the pupils, and makes possible much greater variety in conducting 
the exercises of the school. If the pupils have access to books for 
supplementary reading, maps, globes, and other illustrative material, 
their study will be more independent, and they will have opportunity 
to learn how to work for themselves. 

9. In the special room for gifted children, drill should be decreased by 
about 50 per cent. 

Correspondence with teachers shows this to be a prevalent prac- 
tice in rooms of this kind, and corroborative evidence has been fur- 
nished by the work of the experimental room. Results of learning 
tests indicate that practice is more efficient in the case of those who 
already possess high initial ability. 

10. Likewise, explanation should be reduced about 50 per cent in 
amount, and needs to be given in much less detail than to ordinary pupils. 

This is also the common practice in special rooms for gifted pupils. 
It is justified by the quickness with which the children learn and by 
their greater ability in perceiving relationships. 

11. Emphasis should be placed upon the development of the pupils' 
initiative. 

A prominent feature in the education of bright children is the 
increase of opportunity for the exercise of initiative on their part, with 
a consequent insistence upon self-reliance and free expression. 

12. Much use should be made of the 'principle of application.' 

In carrying out this principle, pupils must be encouraged in all 
possible ways to make immediate and practical application of what 
they have learned, in the acquisition of new knowledge and in the 



116 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Other activities of the schoolroom. In particular, the teacher may 
often very advantageously make use of this principle in provision for 
review. 

13. Instruction should he as much as possible by broad, underlying 
principles, rather than by detached facts. 

This is an important principle in all teaching, but it can be realized 
to a much greater extent with bright children than with ordinary 
ones, and consequently needs to receive greater emphasis in their 
instruction. 

14. An important feature of the teacher's method is the development 
of a proper perspective of the material of instruction. 

This implies the ability to estimate the relative importance of the 
different topics and pieces of subject matter in order to make a proper 
distribution of time and energy among them and to insure that the 
more important topics receive the greater attention. 

15. The teacher of the special room for bright children need pay but 
little attention to discipline, beyond seeing to it that the pupils have work 
enough to keep them busy. 

The testimony of those who are engaged in giving instruction to 
special groups of bright children is practically unanimous to the effect 
that no disciplinary troubles are encountered. While bright children 
sometimes cause trouble in ordinary rooms, because of the lack of 
employment, when they are placed in a room where they have plenty 
of work to occupy their attention, and where they must exert them- 
selves to keep up with their fellows, their idleness gives place to 
industry, and they cease to give any trouble on the score of conduct. 
The only recommendation that needs to be made upon this point, 
then, is that the teacher see to it that the pupils have work enough to 
occupy their time. 

16. If any of the pupils in the special room seem to be developing 
egotistic tendencies, the teacher should apply the 'social check.' 

Contrary to the impression entertained by some, segregation of 
superior children does not inevitably develop in them undemocratic 
ideas and attitudes. Quite the opposite, for in fact there is more 
opportunity for the development of the feeling of superiority on the 
part of the bright child in the regular room than in the special room. 
Under ordinary conditions, the bright child stands out conspicuously 
above his fellows, his superiority is acknowledged by them, often to 



GENERAL^ SUM MARY ANDIrECOMMENDATIONS 117 

the point of resentment, and he is keenly aware of it. When a ques- 
tion has gone round the rest of the class without receiving an answer, 
the teacher turns to him with an air of finality and relief. Such oppor- 
tunity for display does not come to the child in the special room, for 
here he is among real competitors, and in place of being always in the 
lead he must often exert himself to keep up with the rest. Of course, 
it would not be out of place for a teacher of a special room, as well as 
any other teacher, to keep close watch for the beginnings of vanity 
and egotism in order that she may promptly check them. This can 
often be done by comparing the work of the child who needs to be 
thus corrected with that of some other pupil of superior, or at least 
equal, ability in that particular line. It is actually easier for a teacher 
to hold such tendencies in check in a room where the pupils are of 
about equal ability than in a room where the bright children are 
conspicuous by their superiority over their classmates. 

17. Corresponding to the special adaptations of method, there should 
he a readjustment of emphasis in subject matter. 

Modification of methods of instruction must perforce bring about 
modification in subject matter. Corresponding to the lessened 
amount of drill, there will be a lessening in the number of problems 
and exercises in the formal subjects. Less attention should be given 
to details of secondary importance, and more attention to necessary 
principles. Much of the purely explanatory matter in the textbooks 
may be passed over lightly or even omitted. It was found, in our 
experimental room, that the children often knew much of the matter 
ahead of them in the course of study, and this made it possible for that 
material to be passed over rapidly. Especially did this happen when a 
new volume in a series of textbooks in the same subject was taken up. 
For instance, the advanced textbook in geography, which the special 
6th grade began to study at about the middle of the year, began with a 
review of the definitions and principles which the pupils had learned 
in their study of the intermediate book. Since it was found that the 
children were already perfectly familiar with practically all this 
material, this portion of the book was used only for a rapid review, 
instead of being made the subject of definite and extended assign- 
ments, as would have been the case if the matter had been entirely 
new. Exactly the same thing took place in 5th-grade arithmetic and 
6th-grade language. 



118 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

18. The teacher of a special room for gifted children should he 
allowed wide latitude in modifying the course of study to fit the purpose of 
the room and the needs of the pupils. 

The author's work with the experimental room during the year 
thoroughly convinced him that a great deal of freedom should be 
allowed the teacher of a gifted room in following the conventional 
course of study. The investigators all felt that from the standpoint of 
the experiment, a considerable amount of time was lost in doing 
work which could be justified only on the ground of preparation for 
the somewhat rigid requirements of a conservative school system. 
The fact that we were not allowed to alter the sequence of any of the 
branches of subject matter seriously interfered with our efforts to 
condense the regular course of study for the two years into an econo- 
mical and efficient one-year course. If a teacher of the type which 
has been recommended is once secured, she should be left in compara- 
tive freedom to select what she considers the essential parts of the 
course of study, and to present them in the order which is best 
adapted to the needs of her class. The time saved by these methods 
would afford opportunity to add a considerable quantity of outside 
material of a cultural nature, much of which might well be supplied by 
the pupils themselves. This added material might include, among 
many others, such things as extended supplementary reading of 
standard literature mainly for appreciation, dramatization, pageantry 
free discussion of the important topics in the news of the day, the 
collection of newspaper clippings correlating with the work in civics 
and hygiene, the illustration of history and geography with such relics, 
costumes, utensils, etc., as are available or can be procured, especially 
those which the pupils are able to bring, enrichment of the work in 
history by some consideration of industrial history, study of local 
city and state industries in connection with the work in geography, 
and so on through a long list. In some cases it might be possible to 
take up the study of a foreign language, as was done in the "oppor- 
tunity class" in the Louisville Normal School, where 4th-grade chil- 
dren were given daily lessons in German, wholly by the conversational 
method. 

Special rooms for gifted children are of two general types. One 
type, which is the more common, contemplates a saving of time by 
providing for the more rapid progress of the pupils. The other makes 



GENERA L SUMMA RY AND RECOMMENDA TIONS 1 19 

no provision for the saving of time, but makes use of a course of study 
different from the ordinary one in that it either (a) contains more of 
the same kind of material, or (b) includes different material, which is 
usually of a more cultural nature. Of the second type, the latter 
arrangement is by far the better. It is subject to one danger, however, 
in that in the attempt to add cultural material, the course may be so 
diluted as to defeat one of the most important purposes of such rooms, 
namely, the provision of opportunity for gifted children to learn what 
hard mental work is. This danger, however, is not inherent in the 
scheme and may very easily be avoided. 

Although most of the special rooms for gifted children now in 
operation have a course of study so arranged as to make it possible for 
the pupils to do three years' work in two, this study has shown that 
bright children of the 5th and 6th grades can do two years' work in 
one, and the same gain in time has been accompHshed in one or two 
other rooms of the kind. By lessening the amount of drill, decreasing 
the amount of explanation, and, on the side of subject matter, omit- 
ting or passing rapidly over what is already known or of relative 
unimportance, enough time can be saved so that all of the essential 
topics of the two years' work can be mastered in one. There will be 
time enough left, in addition, to make possible the introduction of a 
considerable amount of cultural material of the kind mentioned 
above, by which the course will be enriched and made to connect more 
completely with the lives of the individual pupils. 



CHAPTER IX 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON THE PSYCHOLOGY AND 
PEDAGOGY OF GIFTED CHILDREN 

This bibliography, which is not to be regarded as complete, 
attempts to give a fairly comprehensive list of references dealing, in 
various ways, with questions concerning the mentality of gifted chil- 
dren, as well as their training. 

Adler, Martha. Mental tests used as a basis for the classification of school children. 

/. Educ. Psych., 5:1914, 22-28. 
Alderman, L. R. Effort to make the school fit the needs of the exceptional child. 

Proc. N. E. A., 1914, 830-835. 
Aley, J. A. Care of exceptional children in the grades. Proc. N. E. A., 1910, 881-886. 
Anon. A class of exceptional children. School, 28: June 7, 1917, 409. 
Answer to Correspondent. How can we give to the brighter child the benefit of his 

better endowment. American School, 2: May, 1916, 156. 
Becht, A. A. Bright pupils and dull pupils. /. Educ, 79: 1914, 395-6. 
Berkhan, O. Otto Pohler, das friihlesende Braunschweiger Kind. Zeits. f. Kinderfor- 

schung, 15:1910, 166-171. 
Berkhan, O. Das Wunderkind, Christian H. Heineken. Zeits. f. Kinderforschung, 

15:1910, 225-229. 
Berle, A. A. Teaching in the Home. New York, 1915. 
Berry C. S. Special classes in Michigan for mentally exceptional children, in Rept. 

Supt. Public Instruction, Michigan, 1914-15, especially 57-75. 
Bliss, D. C. The application of standard measurements to school administration. 

Fifteenth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I, 1916, 

69-78. 
Boggs, Anita U. A plea for the forward child. The Child, 2 : Oct. 1911, 45-47. 
Boston, Mass., School Committee, Annual Reports, 1913, 1914. 
Breitweiser, J. V. The case for the gifted child. Colorado School Journal, 28: April, 

1913, 20-22. 
Bruce, H. A. Lightning calculators. McClure's Mag., 39: 1912, 5S6-596. 
Bruce, H. A. New ideas in child training. Amer. Mag., 72 : July, 1911, 286-294. 
Bruce, H. A. Story of Karl Witte. Outlook, im-. 1912,211-21%. 
Burk, Caroline F. Promotion of bright and slow children. Educ. Rev., 19: 1900, 

296-302. 
Burnell, Elizabeth F. Instruction in mathematics for gifted pupils. Ped. Sent., 24: 

1917, 569-583. 

120 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 121 

Cambridge, Mass., School Committee, Annual Reports, 1908, 1910. 

Cautley, E. The precocious child. The Child, 9: Aug , 1919, 481-486. 

Christenson, D. H. Changes in the course of study and school organization to meet the 

varying capacities of children. Proc. N. E. A., 1912, 355-368. 
Clerk F. E. The Arlington plan of grouping pupils according to ability in the Arlington 

High School. Sch. Rev., 25: 1917, 26-47. 
Cleveland, Elizabeth. Report of Director of the Special Advanced Class, in Annual 

Report, Board of Education, Detroit, Mich., 1916, p. 94. 
Collicott, J. G. The bright pupil. Proc. N. E. A. 1915, 457-462. (Discussion, 462- 

466.) 
Cooper, H. E. Another study of retardation. Educ. Admin, and Superv., 5: April, 

1919, 177-183. 
Coy, Genevieve. The mentality of a gifted child. J. Applied Psych., 2 : 1918, 299-307. 

Davidson, H. A. The gift of genius. /. ofPed., 16:1904, 281-297. 

Deffenbaugh, W. S. Current progress in schools of cities of 25,000 population or less. 

U. S. Com. Ed., Report, 1914, Vol. I. 
Dolbear, Katherine Precocious children. Ped. Sem., 19:1912, 461-491. 
Donovan M. E., and Thorndike, E. L. Improvement in a practice experiment under 

school conditions. Amer. Jour. Psych., 24:July, 1913, 426-428. 
Dooley, Lucile. Psychoanalytic studies of genius. Amer. Jour. Psych., 27:1916, 

363-416. 
Dorr, Rheta. The child that is different. Century, 83 :1912, 924-930. 
Downes, F. E. Seven years with unusually gifted pupils. Psych. Clinic, 6:1912, 13-17. 
Dutton, C. F. Management of precocious children. Cleveland Medical Mag., 13:1898, 

143-151. 

Eike, P. V. The most learned boy in the world. Amer. Mag., 81 : March, 1916, 52. 

Eliot, C. W. Educational changes needed for the war and subsequent peace. Educa- 
tion, 38: May, 1918, 655-658. 

Ellis, H. A. A Study of British Genius. 1904. 

Ernst, Lucy H. Das jugendliche Genie. VIme Congress Intern, dc Psychologie, 1910, 
674-684. 

Fleischmann, F. A boy prodigy and the fourth dimension. Harper's Weekly, 104, 
Jan. 15, 1910, 9. 

FoUett, W. Schooling without the school. Harper's Mag., 139: Oct. 1919, 700-708 

Galton, F. Hereditary Genius, London, 1914. 

Garrison, C. G.; Burke, Agnes; and HoUingworth, Leta S. Psychology of a prodigious 
child. J. Applied Psych., 1:1917, 101-110. 

Gates, A. I. Correlation of immediate and delayed recaU. /. Educ. Psych., 9: Nov. 
1918, 489-496. 

Gillette, J. M. The conservation of talent through utilization. Scientific Monthly, 
1: 1915,151-164. 

Gillingham, Anna. The bright child and the school. Jour. Educ. Psych., 10: May- 
June, 1919, 237-252. 

Gist, A. S. The acceleration of pupils. Sch. and Soc, 5: Jan. 27, 1917, 116-118. 

Goddard, H. H. Psychology of the Normal and Subnormal, New York, 1919, 216-7. 



122 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Goddard, H. H. Two thousand normal children measured by the Binet measuring 

scale of intelligence. Fed. Sent., 18: 1911, 232-259. 
Gregory, C. Holding pupils in school. Atlantic Educ. J., 2: April, 1916, also in 

New Jersey Educ. Bull. Dec. 1915, Part II. 
Groszmann, M. P. E. The Exceptional Child, New York, 1917, especially Ch. VII. 
Groszmann, M. P. E. Care of exceptionally bright children. Educational Foundations, 

26: June, 1915, 587-592. (Also Med. Rev. of Reviews, 21: 1915, lU-lU; Scienti- 
fic Amer. Sup., 80: Sep. 11, 1915, 171; and Mind and Body, 2: Feb. 1915, 508 ff. 
Groszmann, M. P. E. The exceptionally bright child. Proc. Nat. Assoc. Study and 

Educ. Exceptional Children, April, 1910, 103-133. 
Guthrie, L. G. Contributions from history and literature to the study of precocious 

children. Lancet, 173:1907, 1592-6. 
Hardesty, Annie H. Teaching my boys at home. Ladies' World, Jan. 1916, 12. 
Harley, H. L. Physical status of the special class for bright children at the University 

of Pennsylvania summer session, 1912. Psych. Clinic, 7: March, 1913, 20-23. 
Harris, W. T. Class intervals in the graded schools. Proc. N. E. A., 1900, 323-340. 
Harrisburg, Pa. School Committee, Annual Report, 1912. 
Hill, D. S. Notes on the Problems of Extreme Individual Differences in Children of the 

Public Schools. New Orleans, 1913, especially pp. 67-72. 
Hirsch, W. Genius and Degeneration. New York, 1896. 
Hoke, K. J. The public schools and the abnormal child. Psych. Clinic, 9: January, 

1916, 238-245. 
Holmes, W. H. Plans for classification in the public schools. Ped. Seni., 18:1911, 

475-502. 
Holmes, W. H. Promotion classes for gifted pupils. /. of Educ, 75:1912, 376-379. 
Holmes, W. H. School Organization and the Individual Child. Worcester, Mass., 1912. 
Jones, C. T. Suggestive plan for the study of very bright children. /. of Educ, 85: 

March, 1917, 290-292. 
Jones, E. E. Suggestions from cases of unusually rapid or irregular progress in public 

schools. Proc. N. E. A., 1912, 640-645. 
Kendall, C. N. Modifications in organization necessary to secure suitable recognition 

of pupils of varying ability. Proc N. E. A., 1908, 147-152. 
Kiernan, J. J. Is genius a sport, a neurosis, or a child potentially developed? Alienist 

and Neurologist, 36: 1915, 165-236, et. scq. 
Kolbe, P. R. Problem of the competent. Sch. and Soc, 3: March 11, 1916, 378-380. 
Lang, A. Genius in children. N. Amer. Rev., 165:January, 1897. 
Lee, J. B. Breaking the lock step in our schools. Educ. Rev., 56: Sept. 1918, 149-157. 
Lindley, E. H. and Bryan, W. L. An arithmetical prodigy. Psych. Rev., 7 :1900, 135 ff. 
Louisville, Ky. Board of Education. Sixth Report, 1917, especially pp. 40-44, 81. 
Lynch, EUa J. The bright child. Psych. Clinic, 4:1910, 141-144. 
Macmillan, D. P. The discovery and training of exceptionally bright children, in 

The Child in the City, 1912, pp. 203-212. 
McDonald, R. A. F. Adjustment of School Organization to Various Population Groups. 

(Teachers Coll. Contrib. to Educ. No. 75, 1915) especially Ch. xi. 
Maennel, B. The Auxiliary Schools of Germany. (Eng. trans. Bull. U. S. Bureau Educ, 

1907, No. 3.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 123 

Melcher, G. Studies of the bureau of research and efl&ciency of Kansas City, Mo., 

in the Fifteenth Yearbook Nat. Sac. for the Study of Ediic, 1916, p. 131 ff. 
Millard, B. Precocity and genius. Boo^waw, 42: Nov., 1915, 340-345. 
Miller, C. A. The study of exceptional children. Proc. N. E. A., 1908, 957-963, 

especially 958-9. 
Miller, G. A. Mathematical prodigies. Science, 26: Nov. 8, 1907, p. 628 ff. 
Mitchell, F. D. Mathematical prodigies. Amer. J. Psych., 18:1907, 61-143. 
Morrison, J. C. The supervisor's use of standard tests of efficiency. Elem. Sch. J., 

January, 1917. 
Mulford, H. J. The human mind. A suggestion as to the constitution of normal, 

subnormal, and supernormal mind. Amer. J. Psych., 29: July, 1918, 272-290. 
Mulrey, Cora L. The rapid advancement class. Educ. Adm. and Superv., 3:1917, 

416-419. 
Myers, G. C. Broadening the course of study for the brighter children. Educ. Adm. 

and Superv., 3: Jan. 1917, 33-37. 
Neverman, P. F. New Richmond plan of grade promotion. Amer. Schl. Bd. J., 54: 

Jan., 1917, 38. 
Newton, Mass. School Committee, Annual Report, 1913. 
Norsworthy, Naomi. Acquisition as related to retention. /. Educ. Psych., 4:1913, 

214-218. 
Norsworthy, Naomi, and Whitley, Mary T. The Psychology of Childhood, New York, 

1918, pp. 328-333. 
Olerich, H. The cleverest child in the world. Strand Mag., 20: 1900, 130-136. 

Review in Ped. Sem., 7:1900, 455. 
Olerich, H. Das wunderliche Viola Rosalia Olerich. Korperliche Erziehung, 9:1913, 

323-329. 
O'Shea, M. V. Popular misconceptions concerning precocity in children. Science, 

34:1911, 666-674. 
O'Shea, M. V. What Mrs. Stoner did for her child. McClure's Mag., 45: July, 1915, 

38-39; 76-77. 
Ostwald, W. Grosse Manner. Leipzig, 1909. 
Patterson, M. Rose. A preparatory center in Baltimore, William Rinehart School 

No. 52. Atlantic Educ. J., 12:1917, 234-238. 
Petzoldt, J. Die Einwande gegen Sonderschulen f. hervorragend Befahigte. Neue 

Jahrbiicher f. Pad., 28:1911, 1-24. 
Petzoldt, J. Drei Thesen iiber Sonderschulen f. hevorragend Befahigte. Arbeiten des 

Bund f. Schulreform, Nr. 5, 68-74. 
Petzoldt, J. Sonderschulen fiir hervorragend Befahigte. Neue Jahrbiicher f. Pad., 

14: 1904,425-456. 
Pressey, S. L. and Pressey, L. W. The practical efficiency of a group scale of intelli- 
gence. /. Applied Psych., 3: March, 1919, 68-80. 
Pyle, W. H. A psychological study of bright and dull pupils. /. Educ. Psych., 6:1915, 

151-156. 
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Race, Henrietta V. A study of a class of children of superior intelligence. J. Educ. 

Psych.,9: Feb. 1918, 91-98. 



124 NINETEENTH YEARBOOK— PART II 

Rathmann, C. C. The Mannheim system of school organization. Educ. Rev., 53: 

1917, 55-60. 
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664-668. 
Roberts, J. E. A Working Scheme of Promotional Efficiency. Madison, Wis., 1916. 

Sakaki, Y. Some studies of so-called abnormally intelligent pupils. Psych. Clinic. 

6:1912, 18-25. 
Schwarz, O. L. General Types of Superior Men. Boston, 1917. 
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Psych., 4:1913, 209-222. 
Shearer, W. J. The Grading of Schools, including a Full Explanation of a Rational Plan 

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Sidis, B. Philistine and Genius. New York, 1911. 
Specht, Louise F. A Terman class in Public School No. 64, Manhattan. Schl. and 

Soc, 9: Mar. 29, 1919, 393-398. 
Stedman, Lulu. An experiment in educational democracy. Sierra Educ. News, 

15: Oct. 1919, 515-8. 
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1911. 
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(See also numbers for Aug., Sept., and Oct.) 
Stoner, Mrs. Winifred S. Natural Education. Indianapolis, 1914. 

Taylor, J. F. The classification of pupils in elementary algebra. /. Educ. Psych., 

9:1918, 361-380. 
Terman, L. M. Genius and stupidity. Ped. Sent., 13: 1906, 307-373. 
Terman, L. M. The Intelligence of School Children. Boston, 1919, especially Chs. 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY 125 

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Feb. 15, 1912, 109-112 (See also 112-114). 



n 



VITA 

Theodore Spafford Henry was born May 9, 1878, at West Jersey, 
Stark County, Illinois. He obtained his elementary education in the 
rural school, and prepared for college in the Academy of Hedding 
College, Abingdon, Illinois. He received the degree of A.B. from 
Hedding College in 1903. He was a graduate student in education 
at the University of Illinois during the summer sessions of 1913, 1914, 
1915, and 1916, and the regular school years of 1915-1916 and 1916- 
1917; and received the degree of A.M. in education in 1916. Through- 
out the year 1916-1917 he was engaged in a study of gifted children 
conducted by Professor Guy M. Whipple, under a subsidy from the 
General Education Board. 

His first year of teaching (1903-1904) was in a country school in 
Warren County, Illinois. From 1904 to 1907, he was in charge of 
village graded schools at Altona, Illinois (two years), and Melvin, 
Illinois (one year). From 1907 to 1912 he was superintendent of 
schools at Elmwood, Illinois, and from 1912 to 1916 at Havana, 
Illinois. He was instructor in psychology at the Michigan State 
Normal College, Ypsilanti, Michigan, during the summer session of 
1917. Since September 1, 1917, he has been professor of psychology 
in the Western State Normal School, Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

He is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Delta Kappa, and Sigma 
Xi. He has published: 

A comparison of two recent contributions to the theory of educa- 
tion. School and Home Education, September, 1916. 

Standards of "good form" in classroom teaching. School and 
Home Education, November, 1916. 

The problem method in teaching. School and Home Education, 
February, 1917. 

The education and control of the emotions. Journal of Educa- 
tional Psychology, September, 1917. 



^ 126 



^%-': 



21 



